Right now it's 1:44 am. I probably will erase this in favor of a more coherent post. My one main worry for today is whether or not Michael's sell's red mat boards to match the painting I just completed. Wait a minute that's silly! I got a red mat board for the Elvis Bar painting!

My other concern is whether or not there will be long line today at the Charles for Fahrenheit 9/11. I hate waiting in lines.....

I wonder if I will ever be able to get back in touch with Marc Braun. I sent him an e-mail today. I hope he doesn't think I'm being pushy. I also hope he isn't mad at me for sending him an e-mail.

Well, that's it for my concerns. It's off to bed for me....

Saturday, June 26, 2004

Today I mostly worked on my painting for Artscape. It’s completed! Yippeeee! All I have to do now is buy a mat board for it.

I suppose tomorrow I’ll head up to Michaels and then over to the Charles Theater to see Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11.

Also today I contributed money to John Kerry’s campaign and to the Democratic National Committee. I did this right after I read a post from some idiot on the wetcanvas board who said he/she will be voting for Ralph Nader in the up coming Presidential election. I found his/her message deeply disturbing.

Friday, June 25, 2004

Today my bus was running late. So late in fact that I decided to take a cab over to the light rail stop that’s across from the 5th Regiment Armory. The cab driver this time was a very congenial African man. He wore glasses and a sunny disposition. When I told him where I wanted to go he said, “You got it!” The problem was that he did not entirely get it he drove me directly to the 5th Regiment Armory. He quickly corrected himself. He did a hairpin death defying u-turn in the middle of traffic and dropped me off at the light rail stop. Also when he was on route to the light rail station his phone rang. He did not bother to pick it up. So it rang and rang continously. It made me wonder who’s phone call he was avoiding. Was it a girlfriend or a possible, “Ahmed, we attack at midnight”, type call. Not that I think that all foreign cab drivers are terrorist sleeper cells or anything like that.... It’s just why didn’t he pick up the freakin’phone!!!

My poster did in fact sell to someone named Scott. I know because Scotty e-mailed me yesterday about it. Now at least the mystery is solved as to who is Scott. Scott was Scott Pittman, also an artist who did one of the Sowebo posters. His wife also did a poster. Wow, a husband and wife artist team. I suppose I’ll check the site to see the posters that they submitted.

I think I may have to hold on buying a mat board until the weekend. I still haven’t called Marc Braun. I’m still afraid that he might yell at me or something. I think it’s safer to e-mail him first. I wonder if I’ll ever see the 40 bucks....

Thursday, June 24, 2004

I got a good night’s sleep. I’m on time for work today. Jie Lie showed up for work yesterday, Yipeeeee! However, she’s still coughing every now and then.

I have to renew my tickets with the symphony. This year Olivia Newton John is a part of the regular season!! I like her and I know all her songs!!! Yes, folks, I do own an Olivia Newton John Greatest Hits cd. Folks, I’ve divulged one of my deepest darkest secrets yet on the internet. I, Gail Janice Willis, am an Olivia Newton John fan.

I haven’t done much for the Artscape painting on account that I went to bed fairly early. I was trying to make up for the two hours of sleep I got last night. I think I’ll nap on the light rail train this morning. With all the frames I have from various
shows I should have a collection built up pretty soon. What I need are consistant themes. I think I probably already have consistent themes, but I’ve been too busy creating to look back and say, wait a minute there’s a pattern going on here.

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Just as I was about to walk out the door to go to work I noticed that the sky was cloudy. So I ducked back in and got an umbrella. This of course made me almost late today. I also only got about two hours sleep last night. I worried about Artscape and I worked on my hair last night. I also tinkered on my web site. I don’t know enough html code enough to build a web site on my own. However, I know enough to make adjustments here and there.

I hope that Jie Li shows up today. There was an aweful lot of work yesterday. They even had a sign up sheet for Saturday. I don’t think I’ll be able to do it. I see myself working on my painting for Artscape for the next few days. Speaking of which I bought the frame that the painting will go in when it’s finished.

I also have to get in contact with Marc Braun. I don’t want to appear to be too pushy.

Tuesday, June, 22, 2004

They said it couldn’t happen but today I’m late. I don’t feel necessarily bad about it. I just over slept last night. I was sick with worry deciding if I should do a Jem or Dana portrait.

At work Jie Li still was a no show. She has been out an awefull lot. I hope she is not dying or anything. There was overtime today. I had the opportunity to make up for being late without being penalized.

Monday, June 21, 2004

I am still sifting through the mountain of 800 e-mails and noticed today that I got an e-mail from Gary Kachadourian, the guy who runs Artscape it turns out that the artwork for Artscape is due next week!! Yikes the mail was dated on June 5, 2004. If only I’d checked my mail on a regular basis. Oh, well looks like I have to rush yet again to finish a project.

I intend on doing my portrait on either a Jem doll or a Dana doll. The requirements did not specify if the portrait would have to be plastic or a flesh and blood person. I hope to god/goddess that I can finish this in time without having to miss a day of work.

Sunday, June 20, 2004

The above is my favorite picture that I took from last month’s Sowebo Festival. I found the giant sea horse hanging from the houses an enchanting site to behold. I was simply mesmerized by it.

I got a phone call a little after three from someone called Marc Braun from the Carriage House it turns out that one of the paintings I had displayed there sold on the day of the Festival. Wow!! I still can’t believe it someone was waking around with forty bucks in hand and said they’d like to buy the Elvis Bar. I promptly went over there to drop off the painting and collect my cash.

When I went up to the Carriage House the doors were open music was playing and there were people inside. I assume they were artists or something. I went up to the first person I saw and told him I was there to drop off my artwork and that I spoke to Marc on the phone. He told me his name was Larry then he pointed out the other people around and introduced them but they all seemed busy with other things. Larry seemed confused then he told me that Marc was up the street hanging up the posters for the auction. Then he called up Marc on the cell phone who told him that he was up the street hanging pictures for the auction. Then he handed me the phone and Marc told me that he was up the street hanging pictures for the auction.

I went up the street since Marc was there hanging up pictures for the auction. I was hoping to collect my money for the painting. Then when I got to Corradetti’s Glass Gallery I realized that I haven’t the foggiest idea what Mark looks like. I stayed awhile hoping that I would run into Marc or who hear someone saying, “Hey, Marc.....” As you can probably tell that never happened. So I looked at the posters that were being hung up then people started to arrive. Then I noticed that time was starting to pass and I still didn’t have a Father’s Day card or groceries in my house. So I promptly went over to my least favorite supermarket in the entire known universe, Safeway. I always feel like I’m being monetarily raped when I shop there. Everything seems so overpriced there. There are only two good things about Safeway, they have there own line of veggie burgers and they sell there own line of kettle popcorn.

After I dropped off my groceries I decided to go back to the Corradetti’s. There was a substantial lot more people there this time. I stayed and watched the auction to the very end. I didn’t even flinch when my poster came up for sale. It sold for $25.

A funny moment for me personally was when Megan Hamilton upon introducing my poster said I was a fashion designer. That made me bust out laughing uncontrollably in my Payless sneakers, and K-Mart clothes. Scotty quickly corrected her. I’m happy that she doesn’t know who I am. Heck, I don’t even know who I am. A few things I can say is that I’ve been a member of the Creative Alliance for god knows how many years. I’ve displayed at Artscape and I’ll also be doing it again this year.

At the auction I was sitting next to the guy who did the Cicada eater poster. She said he was an Outsider Artist with the American Visionary Art Museum. Did she know that beforehand or did he have to tell her? Anyway I figure the less they know about me the better. I feel this is good because it allows me to be fluid to live without bounds. I can create what I want and not have to stay within a specific areas.

Saturday, June 19, 2004

Today was a day of retrieving artwork. I started off at The Creative Alliance. When I got there there was a woman in the storeroom where the other woman could not get too on account that there was a table in front of it. She told me I had to ask Jed Dodds to get the work for me. This was the first time that I put two and two together and discovered that the chubby white guy with the glasses was Jed Dodds! I’d seen this guy there a million times and just assumed he was an intern. Somehow I’d always pictured Jed Dodds as looking like Jed Clampett from the Beverly Hillbillies. I was expecting to see a man wearing a plaid shirt and dungarees held up by rope.

After I picked up my workfrom the Creative Alliance I headed back downtown where I stopped off at the Gallery. I bought a slice of pizza from Sbarro’s and a medium orange soda. It started to look dark and foreboding outside so I decided that I might as well head back home and pick up my artwork from the Carriage House.

While at the Gallery I bought the Dean Martin cd, Dino: The Essential Dean Martin. I also picked up Los Loney Boys latest self titled cd it was only 9.99. I contemplated getting Butterfly Boucher’s cd but I only know of one hit on that cd, “Another White Dash”. So maybe I’ll pick it up if she has another hit on it.

One odd thing that happened was that there was this Latino man in the store he gave me a thumbs up when he saw the Los Lonely Boys cd. He told me it was a good cd and a nice price at 9.99. He was there with a group of other Latino’s. So I guess this was his honest opinion and not a sales pitch. Latino’s, heck, no one has ever really come up to me and given me a thumbs up on my purchases at the music store or any other store.

When I finally got to the door of the Carriage House it was closed. A dog was fiercely barking. I wasn’t sure if anyone was there or not. On the flier I got on the day that I dropped off my work they said that it would be open for pick ups from 12 to 6 I looked at my watch, it was 5:45. I wasn’t quiet sure what was going on. So I banged on the door a bit. Eventually Scotty emerged from the other side of the door. He pointed at me and said, “Gail? Right...” I thought this was kind of odd. So I slowly said, “Yeah.” He said that he was up stairs doing something and that he wasn’t expecting any more people to show up. After I got my stuff he looked banefully at all the posters gathered by the table and said that he hoped that they would sell. I was shocked to hear that he could be doubtful about anything. I was dumb founded. I couldn’t think of anything to say so I got my artwork and left.

Friday, June 18, 2004

The bus and light rail were both on time today. Thus, I was on time for work. I noticed that the woman who shared her cab with me has been on the bus for the entire week. For all I know we’ve been taking the same bus for the past four years. Speaking of which I still haven’t seen Gary or Arthur on the bus stop in ages. The only other regular besides myself on the bus stop is a bus driver who gets off in front of the University of Maryland Medical School. I suppose he starts his shift from that stop. I have to say that it’s nice to have another regular on the bus stop. It has been lonely standing out there in the morning without Arthur and Gary. Even though they were both senior citizens I felt secure seeing them in the morning.

Also today at work Keisha showed up again. I believe she stopped by to pick up her check. Then again who knows? Maybe she likes to haunt the office. From the way she was talking I get the impression that she severely hurt her hands in the car accident. I didn’t check to see if her hands were bandaged or if she had a hand splint. Why does she keep showing up? Why doesn’t she just stay home and relax?

As you can see I changed the design of this site. I have always wanted to have permanent links, as well as an archive, and a picture or your truly on the front page of my blog.

Oh, my god Marshall Crenshaw!! As I’m writing this WTMD is playing his song, ‘There She goes’, it’s off his 1979 debut album. I know this because I own the cd.

Back to the blog.... I will probably be tweaking a few things over the weekend. I’m not too crazy about having a white background on my blog. I will also be changing the colors of some of the headings as well as adding links.

Nice trend I’ve noticed that WTMD has added Parliament, as well as George Clinton to their play list. I haven’t heard there music since I was a kid.

I have to go to the BSO tonight. This is the last show in my seasonal subscription. I have no idea what I will be seeing tonight. I know I will be signing up again for next season. I think I may be adding the Baltimore Opera to my merry go round of art events. They sent me an intriguing circular in the mail. They have a few shows I’ve heard of. I’m not a big fan opera. However, I’m willing to give it a try, just this once. I hear they will have subtitles with the shows. Instead of signing up for the entire season I think I may just check out a show or two.

Yesterday was kind of like, Night of the Living Dead. I heard a familiar voice in the distance, looked around and saw Keisha. Eeeeek!!!I thought she was gone from this mortal plane! Geez, you eulogize somebody in your blog and they just pop right back up. Now come to think of it.... I recall hearing that she was in some type of a car accident last week. So it’s possible that she is taking time off to recuperate. But why clean off her desk of all personal effects? Why did she return today of all days? As Welcome Back Kotter’s, Vinnie Barbarino once said, “I’m soooo confused!!!”

Also yesterday, I rushed to make it to the Creative Alliance to pick up my artwork. It turned out that they were in fact having an event there. It seemed to be some type of an Indian themed event. They had tables of food laid out right as you entered the door. No one was taking tickets, asking questions, or anything. I could have made myself a plate and left out. Heck, I could have made several plates.

At the receptionists desk was a full figured woman wearing a twa (teeny weeny Afro) and a colorful scarf to match with the event’s exotic theme. She kind of reminded me of a colorful Buddha. I told her I spoke with someone yesterday on the phone and they said that I could pick it up my artwork tonight. She seemed confused. She told me that she couldn’t get to it even if she tried. She said there were tables blocking the entrance to where the artwork was stored. So it looks like I’ll have to make another visit to pick up my artwork.

Bizarre Occurrences From Yesterday. I thought about asking Arvada (she’s short and has curly hair, celebrity she most resembles is a Hobbitt) to drive me over to the Creative Alliance. Just as I was thinking about this like clockwork Cassandra who car pools with Arvada walked over and asked my something about where to buy cardboard picture frames. This was extremely out of the blue. Cassandra has never ever said a word to me at work. It kind of made me wonder at that point in time that if I thought about John Cusack would he suddenly pop up at the office for an emergency film shoot. Alas, it didn’t happen....

Another other odd occurrence.... While waiting for the bus on the way home from the Creative Alliance there was this man who kept staring quizzically at me. He’d walk a few steps stare turn around look at me then walk some more like he was trying to remember something. Then just as he was leaving I realized that he looked a lot like this person I used to IM a few years back. I’d never personally met him. We just communicated through the internet. I remember that he (the person I used to IM) was a college math professor from Pennsylvania. The man who was staring at me as though he was trying to ponder something eventually drove off in a car with Pennsylvania license plates. I’m not sure if it was or wasn’t him. Most likely it wasn’t him. It was probably just a person trying to remember his shopping list or something.

The one thing I can remember about the IM person was that he was a big fan of Elvis Costello. I also like Elvis Costello too. He accused me once of being the type of person who had a record collection that consisted of nothing but Best of’s and Greatest Hits. In fact it’s true, I never told him this he just knew it. It was eery like that. It was like he knew me without really knowing me.

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

The bus and light rail were both on time today. Since they were on time I was on time for work.

Yesterday, I went to one of my least favorite malls, the Towson Town Center. It is an upscale mall for the well off not neer do wells like myself. Let’s face it, the main reason I don’t like this mall is because everything in it is so over priced. I have a family reputation for being a bit of a cheapskate. I don’t want to ruin my good name by shopping in a place like that. Almost everything I own and wear comes from Walmart or a store ending in mart, eg C-Mart, K-Mart. I can’t even bring myself to shop at Target. It’s too upscale for me.

I went to the Towson Town Center solely to escape the heat and the bus I was on. I could have stayed on the bus longer but it was not air conditioned. The bus was getting crowded, hot, and funky with each passing bus stop. I couldn’t take it anymore, I wanted off.

When I walked through the cool air conditioned mall I found myself at the food court. I ended up buying a pizza from the Villa Pizza shop. The foreigner taking my order got my order wrong. I wanted two slices but he only gave me one. Also he didn’t bother to warm the pizza up in the oven like they usually do at other mall pizza places. I’m not a very argumentive person. I took what he gave me and left. The pizza tasted ok, however it wasn’t hot.

Next I visited The Apple Store. The last time I went there was last summer to upgrade the memory on my iMac. Everything in the store looks linear and clear. The computers they have out now don’t look as groovy as my green iMac. I wish they would make more colorful computers like they did back in the day. However, I would like to get an iPod or a mini iPod. I have just enough money saved up to get one if I wanted to.

The last place I visited was David and David’s. I bought some licorice there because it has low points and is low in calories. The main reason I went to that particular store is that I get a catalog from them every year around Christmas. The candy I bought from them like everything else in this mall was grossly over priced.

Also today I will be heading off to the Creative Alliance after work to pick up my artwork. They are supposed to be having some type of an event there this evening up until 8 PM. So instead of taking the bus home from work I will have to take the light rail. I hate taking the light rail home from work. It seems as though people are extra loud when they take it in the evening. I suppose it’s the combination of a work days ending and being with your co-workers. The racket is sometimes so loud that I can not concentrate enough to read my book. The book I’m currently reading is Marcus Majors’, Good Peoples.

Ever since I’ve worked over time last Saturday I feel as though I’m living in one of Dante’s levels of hell. This is like the never ending work week. I can’t wait for Friday to get here. But then I realize that I have to go to the symphony that night. One more commitment to get through.....

Interesting occurrence: Yesterday I saw Arthur on the bus after I got home from the mall. I didn’t get around to asking him if he finally retired from his job or was working another schedule. Anyway, it was nice to see the old guy again. ............ At work we are completely out of all the caffeine rich sodas that I love so much. I'll have to make do with Doctor Pepper. It has caffeine in it but not as much as my much beloved Mountain Dew.

Tuesday, June 15, 2004

My bus was no where to be seen at it’s usual time. I began to feel worried and panicked that I would be late and fired. I do not want to lose my job and be forced to move in with my crack addicted sister. I immediately flagged down the first cab I saw. However, I was saddened to see that a woman was already in it. She was nice and let me share the ride. She told me that the reason she did this was because we both took the same bus in the morning. That was very nice of her. However, I do not recall ever seeing her on the bus. She didn’t ask me for money or anything like that when I got off at the light rail stop so I assume we do in fact get on the same bus in the morning. When I got to the light rail stop it was bare. No one was on it except for this man who works in the mail room in my company. I haven’t the slightest idea what his name is but I always say hello to him in the morning.

Last night I was having a really great time listening to the KROQ station on Live 365. I was giddily dancing and singing along to bouncy new wave hits from the 80’s. The KROQ station’s play list consists of songs that made it to the year end count down from 1980 to 1990. In case you aren’t aware KROQ can be considered as the west coast equivalent to WHFS in the 80’s. Even to this day they almost mirror each other in programming. I also believe WHFS’s current program director came directly from KROQ. One thing I have to say about last night, it was nice to hear the Woodentops once again.

The bus was on time today. However, the train was ten minutes late. I’m not sure if I will be on time today or not. Also I did manage to get a look at the roster sheet on Saturday. I immediately noticed that Keisha’s name was off it. That’s that, Keisha, doesn’t work here any more. So now I have to think of her as being among the dearly departed along with Teneka (had very wild stories about things that happened to her), Gerard (had the hook up for anything), Eric (a Republican, wrestling, and Star Wars fan), Tracy (a quiet church girl), Margaret (quiet grandmotherly type), Darlene (no comment).

There are many others who are among the dearly departed at work, however, there names escape me at this time. They are gone but not forgotten in my heart. I suppose right about now I’ll go out and light a candle and pray for there families.

Speaking of the dead,...Death Pool Dave will be on the radio today. This morning he’s scheduled to be on 98 Rock’s, KML show. In case you don’t know he’s a guy with a web site where you get to vote on the next celebrities to die. With the recent deaths of Ray Charles and Ronald Reagan it was imminent that he would be on the radio. According to celebrity death lore they always die in three’s. So there’s one more celebrity to die for the trifecta to be complete.

My money for the next celebrities to die are either, Scott Weiland, the former lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots, or Courtney Love. They’re both deeply troubled and I expect to hear that one of them will die of an over dose. However, they’re both fairly young celebrities and Ray Charles and Reagan were both up there in age and Republican. So I feel the safe money bet would be on Charlton Heston to complete the Ray Charles/Ronald Reagan death in three’s trifecta. Heston is old and he’s a staunch Republican. I believe he also has Alzheimer’s.

A safe bet I feel would also be on Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. I hear she recently suffered a debilitating stroke. My long shot for next to die would be disgraced talk show host Rush Limbaugh. Easy money, I feel will always be on the Pope. He’s way up there in age and could go at any minute. Well that’s enough celebrity death talk....

Yesterday, I finished reading The Mists of Avalon book one Mistress of Magic on tape. I absolutely love this book!! I can't wait to find out how the book ends. After work I immediatly went down to the library to see if they had the other books on tape from the series. Sadly, the only other book they had on tape was book four, Prisoner in the Oaks. So I picked that up as well as the 876 page Mists of Avalon book.

Also in my King Arthur frenzy I added, Exacalibur, Merlin, Mists of Avalon, Guinevere, Knights of the Round Table, Lancelot of the Lake, Sword in the Stone, First Knight, Sword of the Valiant Camelot, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Prince Valiant to my netflix queue. Yes, ladies and gentlemen I'm gearing up full steam ahead for the upcoming King Arthur movie. I suppose next time after I finish Mists of Avalon I should take out a couple more King Arthur books. I guess in no time flat I will be an expert on all things King Arthur.

Saturday, June 12, 2004

I had to come into work this morning because I signed up for overtime. Yesterday, Jai Li finally, showed up for week. I was extremely happy to see her. She was coughing and stuff. So I can assume that after nearly a week off she is not quiet well. I hope she hasn’t caught SARS or something. Still there was no sign nor mention of Keisha. I’m not sure if she left or not. I’ll have to check the daily stat sheet to see if her name is still on it. Damn, I hate looking at that confounded thing. I always get depressed after looking at it. I guess I’ll have to pump up my dosages of both St. Johns Wort and Echinacea.

Yesterday, I wore the shirt I loved when I saw it in the store. I picked it up because it was my size. I didn’t bother trying it on. I was horrified when I finally put it on at home. It’s one of those stupid tight fitting shirts. I hate shirts like that.

Today, I’m wearing my NBC Today Show t-shirt. I got it when I visited New York a couple of years ago. It came directly from the NBC store in Rockefeller Plaza. When I went to the NBC store I also bought a Friends t-shirt and an ER t-shirt. I wonder if I could buy more TV show shirts online. I’m sure NBC must have a store online as well as the other networks.

Right now as I write this at 6:20 AM, I’m listening to WEAA, 88.9. They are playing a Ray Charles tribute show. I love the guy that hosts the show. I only find myself listening to his show when I have to come into work on Saturdays or when I wake up early on Saturdays. I like the old r&b songs that he plays. It’s stuff like you guessed it Ray Charles, Etta James etc. Sometimes, I think I was born in the wrong era. Listening today makes me realize even more how much I love Ray Charles’ music. I own two of his best of cd’s. So I own almost all of the songs that they are playing this morning. I hope that I will be able to pick up the station at work and continue listening there.

Odd Occurance: Outside the First Mariner Arena there was this man sitting on the sidewalk across from the light rail station at around 5:50AM. He looked a little like Jerry Garcia. He had a sketchbook out and appeared to be sketching the buildings. Who gets up at this hour of the day to sketch? Also it looks like there will be some kind of an event at the arena. I noticed there were a lot of red t-shirts stacked in the windows of the arena. I suppose they were left there to be sold whenever the event started.

Friday, June 11, 2004

My goodness they’re playing my man, Dean Martin on 98 Rock! It turns out that Kirk bought the Dean Martin compilation cd. This makes me happy because that means I’m not the only black person that owns a Dean Martin cd. It turns out that the cd has made it into the top 30. I think I may pick it up. As I’ve written before I love Dean Martin. Heck, I love the whole allure of Las Vegas in the 50’s and 60’s and the Rat Pack.

Also, favorite radio station WTMD didn’t come on air until 6AM. It turns out they were having some type of trouble with there transmitter. At first I thought they gave morning man Stephen the day off for Reagan’s funeral. As you might have guessed I still have to go into work. I think I should seriously look into getting a federal or state job so that I can get more days off.

I’m deeply saddened by the death of Ray Charles. I own two Ray Charles Greatest Hits cd’s. He was the original blind singing man, that is if you don’t count blues legend Blind Lemon Johnson. There are so many Ray Charles songs that are among my favorites. I’d have to say that my all time favorite is, ‘Georgia on My Mind’. I know it’s a predictable choice but it’s a classic.

I just noticed yesterday that I haven’t seen Keisha for well over a week at work. I wonder if she quit or was fired. Her desk is completely cleaned off. There’s not a trace of the photos that were once on it. Also Jai Li has not come either she’s really sick or she quit as well. I’ve noticed that her things are still on her desk so I take it that some day she will return.

I was feeling rather shaky last night so I did a meditation tape to calm my nerves. I hate when people leave. It’s like they never existed. One day they’re here the next there desk is cleared off without explanation at least to me as to whether they jumped or were pushed.

I still wonder if Margaret quit or was fired. The last time I can recall seeing her was sometime around the Thanksgiving holidays. I just looked over to her desk one day and noticed that it was cleared off not a trace of the big silver framed photo of her grandson.

No one ever tells anyone anything where I work. It’s almost like a taboo. I even remember in desperation asking Arnold what happened he of course did not know.

So now I’m deeply worried is this the start of mass firings or did they leave willingly? Keisha was a very good worker. She did have a tendency to come in late every now and then. I wonder if that was the reason? I don’t know all I know is that I feel more nervous than usual. How come know one ever says anything around here? No explanations what so ever. To quote Heather in The Blair Witch Project, “I’m so scared!”

Thursday, June 10, 2004

I hope that I will have the opportunity to do the new work again today. I have’nt seen Li Jai in a week. I’ve been doing the work since Tuesday. Li Jai must be very sick. She never calls out. I hae to admit that doing this work is like a respite from the regular work. Speaking of which, we are a bit backed up. So backed up in fact that overtime was offered for Saturday. I of course volunteered for the over time. It’s only 7 to 12pm. I wonder if they will be offering lunch.

In previous years when they’ve had Saturday overtime they would feed us. In the past we’ve had KFC, generic boxed lunches, cold cuts, or pizza. However, lately when we have overtime on Saturday they just buy donuts for us. They are usually Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts. I suppose it’s not worth going the extra mile to bribe people with elaborate free food any more.

I finally did my grocery shopping yesterday. I went to my new favorite supermarket, Food Lion. Food Lion has supplanted my old favorite Metro which changed its name to Shoppers Food Warehouse. I believe before they changed there name they used to be called Basics, which was a store that my brother loved to shop at back in the day.

Yesterday, there was a heat advisory out. So I spent my after work time at the main library. I picked up five books on tape to read at work. I have The Mists of Avalon, Casting the First Stone, Emperor of Ocean Park (I never started reading it from the first time), an Elizabeth Berg Book called True to Form, and The Clock Winder by Anne Tyler.

Unusual ocurrances, I had a very hard time falling asleep last night because of the heat. My bus was five minutes early this morning. This was very unusual. Also on the way home there was an extremely good looking tall shirtless man who walked by the bus stop. He looked as though he might have been a professional trainer, male stripper, or something. He looked very good shirtless. In my opinion it’s rare to see a guy shirtless who is actually in good shape. It’s mostly guys who are in lousy shape. You know people who can actually make you go blind just by looking at them. This man was like an actual Adonis. He looked as though he worked out 5 times a day. He looked good and he knew he looked good. The bus stop broke into uproarous giggles after he passed out of sight. It was clearly giggles of acknowledgement that we were all checking him out. I had never seen someone so perfect so barely dressed walking down the street before. The one man on the bus stop had a disgusted look on his face. As though he were thinking, ”Jeezus Christ, women get a hold of yourselves!”, or maybe. “What does he got that I haven’t got?”

Wednesday, June 9, 2004

I woke up on time however, I fell back asleep. I was almost late this morning. I ended up flagging down a cab on Baltimore Street. I got that very talkative elderly cab driver that I get from time to time. The first thing he asked me when I got in his cab was what perfume I was wearing? I told him Georgio. I like to wear Georgio but mostly on the weekends. On weekdays I like to wear Sweet Honesty which I buy from Avon. However, I’m starting to run out of it so I have to conserve it. Then the next thing you know he’s telling me about how he used to buy his wife perfume when he was in the service. He told me his wife loved to wear perfume. He also told me he was in the service for 25 years. He was married for 40 years. They were married while still in high school. They were married between there sophomore and junior years. He didn’t get around to telling me how many children and grandchildren he had.

After he dropped me off at the Cultural Center of the light rail train was about to pull up. Right now it looks like I will be on time today. I wonder how long I can keep up being punctual?

Yesterday, I went over my father’s house to drop off my nephew’s birthday present. He told me over the phone to leave the money with his sister, Alexis. When I got there his other sister, Arlesia was there. He said it was OK to leave it with her. It turns out his school is going on a trip to Six Flags on Monday, June 21st. The money has to be in by this Wednesday. Also he wanted someone to go with him on the trip. Arlesia said it was because he wanted to spend someone else’s money other than his own. I was surprised that he suggested that I come along. As luck would have it I’m off on the 21st. It is the first day of summer after all. However, I do not have enough money to go on the trip. Also I don’t have the resolve to spend god knows how lng on a bus filled with middle school students.

When I arrived over my father’s house I also learned that my father had not received his social security check for this month. He feels that the reason for this is because his post office box expired last month and he had to get it renewed a couple of weeks ago. He told me that usually when the box is about to expire they give him a notice. This time they did not give him a notice. Eventually we called up the SSA and everything got straightened out. He should receive a check in 5-7 days.

When I was ready to leave I was surprised that Arlesia said she would drive me home. It was like a prayer being answered. As I’ve written previously my right leg still gives me trouble from time to time. I have no trouble walking down the hill towards my father’s house, the pain starts on the way up the hill away from the house. It’s almost like walking a steep incline. This god send turned into something else altogether. Arlesia took her own sweet time. Before I knew it, it was 8:30 so I decided that maybe it was best that I walked up the hill. My leg of course began to ache as it usually does. But she was taking too long and I wanted to do some grocery shopping. I got home at around 9:30, it was a little too late to get anything done. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so impatient. But for goodness sake I was waiting for nearly three hours to go home.

In closing I still have no groceries for the week. I do not know if I made incentive at work last week or not. I made incentive last week. I always feel uncomfortable when I make incentive. I feel like it’s a mistake and it will be taken away from me because maybe it was made in error.

One odd occurrence last week was when Richard looked at my Lord of the Rings calendar pointed and said, “Hey, that’s Aragorn, isn’t it?” I nodded my head and said, “Yes.” I was surprised he said Aragorn and not something like, “Hey, that’s from Lord of the Rings, isn’t it?” My goodness he’s seen Lord of the Rings. I thought I was the only one who worked there who saw the movie.

I wonder if we’ll get Friday off for the death of Ronald Reagan? I know that Federal workers will have the day off. I doubt that we will have the day off but it’s nice to speculate. The again, for all I know the owners of the company I work for could be loyal Republicans who have a giant autographed photograph of Reagan on their desk.

This just proves one thing, I have no idea what the political alliance is of the company I work for. They’re well off so I’ll assume there Republicans although I could be wrong.

I have to admit I was never really a fan of Reagan. I didn't vote for the guy. I was in elementary school when he was elected. My opinions of Reagan are the echo of what I heard my parents saying about him throughout my childhood.

Sunday, June 6, 2004

Yesterday, J-Lo got married yet again. What is with this woman and her constant need to get married? Just six months ago she was engaged to Ben Affleck and now she’s married to someone who just recently got divorced from his former beauty contestant wife just so that he could marry J-Lo and be divorced in under a year. I just don’t get it.

Saturday, June 5, 2004

Yesterday, I went to the movies to see Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban at the Towson Commons. I saw the 3:45 show. At first I was afraid that the theater would be over run by parents with small children. But as I looked around the theater was primarily filled with teenage girls. There was one odd man out other than me and that was this guy who came there with his 3-4 year old asian son. I think that the dad was more interested in seeing the movie than his son. You take a kid that age to a movie like Shrek not Harry Potter.

First off I have to say this is the first Harry Potter film I’ve ever seen in a movie theater. The first two Potter movies I saw were rented from Blockbuster. I did this because I doubted the capability of Chris Columbus’ directing ability and I wanted to avoid a theater filled with children. I found the two previous Potter movies followed the books a little too much. The main reason I was excited to see this particular Potter movie is because it is directed by Alfonso Cuaron, a director I admire. I loved the Little Princess so much that I own it. I adored the breath taking imaginary in it. I feel that this movie was a big improvement on the previous Potter movies. It was more imaginative and it did not follow the books word by word scene by scene. It was a true film translation of a book. It added dimensions and layers that were not in the book.

Two problems I have with the film one was that there were not enough scenes with Alan Rickman as Professor Snape or Gary Oldman as Sirius Black. I love Rickman when he plays bad. I also love Oldman when he plays bad too. I was expecting more and it just wasn’t there. Yea, I know the movie is not called the Professor Snape story but I just love that character as depicted in the book. Teased relentlessly in childhood by Potter’s father for being a bit of a geek then meets his son and despises him on sight because he looks so much like his former tormentor. I absolutely love the fact that Potter’s father was not goody goody as a teenager but was basically a troublemaker and a bully. James Potter, Harry’s father was a very complicated individual. It’s not the typical story set up. I love the gray areas that occasionally creep into the world of Harry Potter. Also from the books I get the impression that everyone loved and had a bit of a crush on Lily, Potter’s mother. I can’t find a single bad comment about her.

Back to the movie.....I hadn't heard of David Thewlis prior to the movie. I felt he did a pretty decent job bringing Professor Lupin to life. A character that listens to big band music can’t be bad in my book. Thewlis brought a certain warmth to the character. If memory serves right he should be back in the 5th movie.

Since no one is reading this blog I thought I’d reveal that Professor Lupin is as his name would imply a werewolf. Since he’s outed as a werewolf at the end of the movie he has to leave the school because who wants there kids taught by a werewolf, even if he is kind hearted. In the book it is still kept hanging whether or not Snape is a vampire. If ever there was a candidate for character most likely to be a vampire he would win. Also we learn that Ron’s pet rat is none other than the once thought dead Peter Pettigrew who betrayed Harry Potter’s parents and framed Sirius Black for a murders he did not commit. This news of course comes as a bit of a shock to Ron who had no idea his pet was a fugitive who found a unique way to hide . Also Sirius Black is Harry Potter’s godfather.

In other news....Little David called he needs his birthday money by Wednesday. It turns out he needs it for a trip. He didn't say where he was going. I guess I’ll drop off the money on Monday at my father’s house.

Friday, June, 4, 2004

I finally got my check for the sale of my artwork at Maryland Art Place! I was laughing my head off when I received it. I got a total of about $7.50 for my artwork. The other half went to the art gallery. It was a charity auction after all. I was lucky they at least gave me half.

Usually, for charity auctions you get nothing monetarily back from the artwork you donate. So I feel fortunate that MAP at least gave me half. THANK YOU MARYLAND ART PLACE!

This all makes me kind of wonder if the artwork I have at the Creative Alliance sold for anything. Also I’m still looking around to see when I have to pick it up. They usually phone you when the artwork has to be picked up. I haven’t heard a peep from them. I also wonder if my poster from Sowebo will sell for anything at the charity auction. Maybe for the hell of it I’ll show up at the auction to see what it’s like, then I’ll walk out when they start auctioning off my poster. I wonder if they’ll have free food and drink there. If so then what the hell. It’s free food and drink.

I also wonder if the paintings I donated for the art show at the Carriage House will sell for anything. I think I priced them both at $40.00. I’m not sure if 40.00 is too steep or too cheap. However, it would be nice if they sold.....

So far this year I’ve made $7.50 from the sale of my artwork. I really should try to get one of my cartoons into the City Paper again. As I recall City Paper pays $10.00 for the Your Art Here feature. I hope they are still running that. That way I would have made $17.50 this year from my artwork. I want to make more this year than I did last. All I know is that it would be nice to finally make money from my artwork even if it is minuscule.

I’m still working on my pottery so far I’ve painted the top and bottom half of the goblet/chalice bright blue to match the wooden box. I also made a saucer bowl like thing. My pottery making ability isn’t that good. These are the very first functional pieces I’ve made. The last polymer clay piece was a figure of a woman. Hopefully this all will be completely finished by Sunday.

I think it’s healthy to switch mediums every now and then so that you do not feel stuck. It’s a good thing to stretch your creative horizons every now and then.

Thursday, June 3, 2004

Ron and Fez started today on Live105.7. It was a big improvement over Tom Lykis. I’m not a big fan of Lykis’ show. His show was very negative in tone in contrast to the rest of the line up on the station. Also, I kind of got the feeling that he hated and despised women.

Basically, this Lykis person is a big fat guy with an Elton John haircut. He’s been divorced several times. Has no children. Doesn’t want children. Yet, he refuses to have a vasectomy performed. I just don’t get it. If you’re a man who doesn’t want any children have a vasectomy!!!

Also, I don’t understand why men constantly call up his show asking for advice. This guy looks and sounds like a loser. Hello!!! He’s got an Elton John haircut for Christs sake!!! It’s all just so strange to me.

So far so good with the Ron and Fez Show. They sound like they are from New York. I think Fez might be gay, but I’m not sure.

I’ve started painting the pottery I’m working on. I tried to sand it down a little but had no luck making it look smooth. I think in the future I might have to buy a power sander. I think I can pick one up for about $35 or so. I hope they don’t make a lot of noise....

Wednesday, June 2, 2004

Eeeek, I got on the light rail today with the harbinger of lateness. I hope to goodness it’s just a case where he is running early today. It has to be! It has to be! I got up on time. I caught the bus on time! I’m not going to be late today. I’m not!!

In other news.... I’m still working on my piece that was due last month for the ebsq show. Since I’m still working on the box and the pottery I might as well start on whatever this month’s show will be.

Even thought I do not work in radio I still feel distraught over Mel Karmazin leaving Infinity. I would feel this way if Cathy Hughes left Radio One. Why? Because to me their companies are not some nameless faceless entity like Clear Channel.

I would definitely switch over to satellite radio if Stern moves over to it. The way I see it $10 a month isn’t such a high price to pay to listen to Stern. It’s an absolute bargain compared to what you pay for cable TV. I hope that Sumner Redstone does not end up selling the radio division like he has threatened to do in the newspaper.

Currently, running the radio division in Karmazin’s absence are Les Moonves and some guy named Freston. Freston is something of an enigma to me. I know absolutely nothing about him. I know Moonves’ name because he runs the TV division of CBS. Now he will be running the TV and radio division along with Freston.

If Redstone sells off the radio division what will I listen to? Will it be sold off to the evil empire that is Clear Channel?

I'm very saddened to hear that Mel Karamzin has left Infinity Broadcasting, a company he has helped to build. I hope that Sumner Redstone does not decide to sell off the radio division. The only company I can see capable of buying it would be the dreaded evil empire that is, Clear Chanel. If he does do this would most of the radio people who work for Infinity like Howard Stern, Don and Mike, Miles and Thrill, Ron and Fez be out of a job? What would I listen to all day? I'm having nightmares of being forced to listen to that laughing hyena, that is DC101's Elliott in the Morning.

Sunday, May 30, 2004

Earlier in the afternoon I really tried to walk down the street to the Sowebo Festival but I felt afraid. There were all these cars parked in my neighborhood that would not normally be there. Also there was this group of white youths standing on my corner who I knew did not live in the neighborhood. I feel uncomfortable when I see groups of people standing around in one area. I feel like there either going to rob or harass me. So yes, I admit I felt frightened and went back inside. I don’t recall if they were all wearing black leather, smoking cigarettes and brandishing chains, and guns. I just recall feeling weirded out because it was a group of people on my corner! A group of people I had never seen before a day in my life! I suppose I’ll make another try after the people have left my corner, that is if they ever leave my street corner.

On second thought maybe they were drunk teenagers or wanted to drink they kept asking asking each other if any of them brought along there ID’s. Eeek! Juvenile delinquents on the corner! I recall that when I first stepped out the door a girl who was with them said, “Ewww!” I know I’m no beauty contestant but I’ve never had someone look at me and go, “Ewww!”

So I decided right then and there that I would not be intimidated by teens. I promptly went back inside and waited for them to leave. I passed the time by going over to the Union Square web site to look at photos of last years Sowebo Festival. When I had exhausted those photos I went over to the Sowebo web site to look at even more photos. The photo’s seemed to mostly consist of freaky looking people. Maybe this would be almost like visiting the fabled, Land of the Misfit Toys.

When I finally ventured out the door the gang of teens were gone. I felt safe. The first stage I went to there was this band playing. They sounded really good. They played a mixture of rap, reggae, and rock. The two lead singers were a black guy and girl the rest of the band was white. I was feeling good bopping my head along to the intensely rhythmic music. So good that I gathered the courage to walk down to the Carriage House to see if my two paintings were still intact. As you may recall these two paintings are in cased in cheap Walmart frames. My main fear was that they would fall apart. They were in fact intact and prominently displayed.

I decided right then and there to explore more of the festival. I walked down the street and found myself at the food court. I bought a $1.00 egg custard flavored snowball. I recall that one of the men tending the stand had pretty light brown eyes. I then visited all the music stages in the festival. My only regret was that I only have $8.00 to my name. I saw so much pretty jewelry there that I wanted to buy but couldn't.

The last place I visited before leaving the festival was the place I think used to be Gallery M. I went there because I wanted to visit my poster. It was at the very tipy top of the wall. When I went there I was also surprised to see that an artist named Gabriel Kroiz had contributed a poster this year. I wonder if this is the same Gabriel who used to run the festival? It’s kind of hard to say. I can’t recall Gabriel’s last name. The only thing I can recall about Gabriel was that he had a hard to forget unusually angelic first name.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen I finally did it! I went to the Sowebo Festival!

Saturday, May 29, 2004

I saw the William Inge play, Picnic today at Center Stage on today. I was pleased to see that my new favorite stage actor, Eric Sheffer Stevens was in the play. He was in the play because one of the actors who was originally slated to appear in the play had to drop out. I wonder what happened? Was the original actor awful in the role and had to be let go? Did he get a movie or tv deal? Did he die? Anyway, the play was great. The set reminded me of the one that was used in the Rainmaker.

Saturday Unusual Occurrences:

On the way to Center Stage I ran into a wedding that was letting out. It was unusual because I know that the church is predominantly white, being that it’s in a white neighborhood, yet I noticed that the vast majority of the people coming out of the church were black. It kind of made me wonder what was going on. It turns out it was an interracial wedding that was just letting out. The bride was black and the groom was white. The majority of the bridesmaids were black all of the grooms men were white. The members of the wedding party gathered around Mount Vernon Square to take pictures. I wanted to take pictures of the family members taking pictures of the wedding party but wasn’t sure if that was ok. I wasn’t sure if anyone would pull a Sean Penn on me. You know come up to me and say in a confrontational manner, “How dare you take pictures of us taking pictures!”

Also on the way home from the theater I fell down, yet again! I hope this doesn’t turn into a monthly occurrence. Last month or month before as you can recall I had the bus incident where I fell down in the street and became a semi-cripple. One thing I have to say the sidewalk was pretty torn up where I fell down so it wasn’t entirely my fault. Both of my knees were badly skinned, my right elbow, and my right knuckles also were bruised. I have a purple bruise on my right knee along with various scars and scabs on my arms and face. I look like a domestic abuse victim. Luckily, I did not reinjure my right leg. Yaaaaaaay!!!

Friday, May 28, 2004

Finally, my nephew got in contact with me! He only wants $100 from me for his birthday present. For a while I thought he was either mad at me or forgot about his birthday (highly unlikely). Unfortunately, I will be unable to give him anything until next week.

Thursday, May 27, 2004

This morning the bus was on time. I suppose the late bus incident was solely the result of the rainy weather. I’m a little worried about tomorrow. It seems that they (bus drivers) usually switch off on Fridays. So I will have to get to the bus stop a little earlier or walk. There is no telling when the new driver will arrive. My bus usually arrives at 5:45. I don’t know if it will be earlier than usual or late as hell tomorrow.

I didn’t watch American Idol yesterday. I’ve never watched the show before. I have no idea who won. As I understand it, it was a showdown between some woman named Fantasia whose a black teenage mother and a fat white chick named, Diana. I have no idea whose the better singer between the two. But from what I hear on talk radio Fantasia is the favorite. Don Geronimo going against the popular grain has his money on Diana winning. Also from what I hear some girl named LaToya was the better singer of the two and got voted off a couple of weeks ago. There was some kind of a big controversy over it.

Last night I worked on my polymer clay sculpture. It looks like it’s going to be a goblet. All I have to do to complete it is to smooth out the rough edges, bake it in the oven and paint it. I like working with polymer clay because it remains pliable for days and you can bake it in a regular oven. The reason for this is that polymer clay is a plastic based clay. It first came on the market in the 60’s just like my favorite paint, acrylic, which surprise is also plastic based. I feel almost like that guy who was giving advice to Dustin Hoffman's, character of Benjamin Braddock in the 60’s classic film, The Graduate. "Plastics!" , truly is the wave of the future. Heck, I’m using it in the 21st century and can not imagine making art without it.