Today Kirk and Mark of 98 Rock’s morning show played more music than usual. It’s their first official day back after Lopez’s death. Peronally, I don’t like that they are playing more music. It makes me feel like they are doing this because they are out of material.

A nice little touch that they have is that they are playing a recording of Lopez saying, “This is the 98 Rock Morning Show.” I think it’s very fitting. It’s almost like he’s still a part of the show, albeit beyond the grave. Also I wonder if they will ever settle in on a permanent on air newsman?

WHAT I’M WEARING:This morning I have on a purple short sleeve cotton t-shirt along with light blue slacks and black canvas tennis shoes.

Happy Memorial Day!! It’s my day off and I’m doing absolutely nothing but enjoying every minute of doing nothing.

I gave up trying to download the new Doctor Who episodes. I have a dial up connection and it was taking forever. So instead I bought Volume 1 of the series which contains, episodes 1-3. I bought it today at Sendit.com which was formerly called Blackstar.com The price for the three episodes was just 9.99 uk price! 9.99 in US dollars is equivalent to about $16.00. So I bought Volume I and pre-ordered Volume II which comes out on June 13th.

I know that they will be coming out with a box set of the first new season of Doctor Who in November, but I can’t wait that long without knowing whether or not the show will ever be picked up by a US broadcaster.

I can watch a UK DVD because as I’ve written before I have a regionless DVD player. It was rendered regionless because I had to hack into it. I did it by buying a cheap DVD player. I had to get a cheap one because it’s very difficult to hack into more expensive DVD player’s. Anyway, I got this particular DVD player a couple of years ago because I wanted to see the 1996 Fox TV movie of Doctor Who which was only available for region 2 DVD players, eg UK and Japan.

The big event of the day for me was going to the 12 noon showing of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I saw it at Security Square Mall. I was truly surprised when I got there because standing right in font of me in line was Ricky from the mailroom. He had on a red baseball cap pulled backwards and a red shirt along with dark sunglasses. I thought maybe he was waiting for a date or a friend to show up but no one came along. I didn’t say anything to him because I don’t really know him. Besides, for all I know he could be a very angry person and might have yelled at me.

Back to the movie.... Overall, it was great. It ranks right up there with Episode Five: The Empire Strikes Back.

I really loved how everything was tied together.

I loved all the mirror images you see in this film that occur in subsequent episodes in the series. For example when you see Palpatine for the first time in this movie. He’s in a chair similar to the one you see him occupy in Return of the Jedi. You also see him get all excited and contort around when he watches Anakin/Vader fight. He also did this in Return of the Jedi with the epic light saber fight between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. It kind of makes me wonder if he get’s off on watching Anakin/Vader cross swords with opponents.....

Also curiously, the first thing out of Palpatine’s mouth in the movie as he addresses Anakin is that he calls him, son. This makes me wonder if Palpatine is really Anakin’s father. I’m sorry but I will never buy any of that midichloridian bullshit that was introduced in Episode I. Besides I think it would be interesting viewing Palpatine as the evil grandfather puppeteer. The type of person who will stop at nothing to gain power. Leaving the woman he impregnated and his offspring to live as slaves on a dust planet. Equally willing to sacrifice son or grandson to gain even greater power. I see Palpatine as a cold heartless bastard who sees family as nothing but mere pawns in a game of intergalactic domination.

Another mirror like image I liked was towards the end. There’s a shot of Uncle Owen on Tatooine which is similar to the image that opens up Episode Four: A New Hope. You remember the shot of Luke Skywalker on Tatooine.The one big problem I had with the movie was Amidala dying after giving birth to Luke and Leia. This is a problem of epic proportions because in Return of the Jedi Luke asks her what he remembers of their mother. Pray tell me, how is it possible that Leia has memories of a mother that died shortly after giving birth to them???? I suppose this problem will be fixed/edited/explained in another re-released special edition box set. In this special edition I would also expect to see a CGI Qui-Gon Jinn in Episodes 4 and maybe at the end of Episode 6.

Also while watching the movie I did spot the Millennium Falcon in a scene. I wonder who was piloting it? It couldn’t have been Han Solo because he was probably still a little kid on Corellia.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a bright yellow short sleeve shirt that has a blue flower design on it. I also have on bright blue pants and beige canvas tennis shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning we still have the Patti Austin driver. Wow! Four days in a row! Has she decided to take on the route as our regular driver?

BABY SHOWER REVIEW
Yesterday, was the baby shower for Tyra. The food was catered by co-worker Keisha. Keisha appears to like to cook a lot. I’m surprised she hasn’t seriously looked into running a restaurant or catering business. In the past she liked to encourage us to participate in her pot luck lunches. I never participated because I’m not much of a cook.

Wednesday’s office baby shower was held in the cafeteria. This meant that you could barely hear above the din of other dinners. In a curious switch off we ate first before opening presents.

In the past showers were held in a spare conference room. In the room the designated pregnant person/bride/father to be would open presents and then we would, “Ohh!!! and Ahh!!”, over what they had opened. The party would then disperse to the cafeteria where we would go and eat. I really miss that format....

The party held in the cafeteria felt all over the place and not as centralized. This could have been because some of the people there were just on their lunch break or hanging out.

When I went in the first thing I did was get a plate of food. It seemed that I could not find a free place to sit so I had to sit amongst the people who were in the cafeteria on their break. While seated I heard a very engaging conversation directly behind me. It was amongst the computer geek guys. I don’t know if they really work in the computer department or not. They always seem to hang together and well, they look geeky. They were talking about the new Star Wars film and the Millennium Falcon and how.... Hey, wait a minute back to the Baby Shower Review!

The food was scrumptious. I really liked the meatballs and (gasp) Chicken from Popeye’s! The string beans were OK albeit a bit over cooked.

The one thing I missed from this shower was hearing all the “Ohhs and Ahhs!”, after the person opens the presents. When Tyra opened her presents it was all just a cacophony of cafeteria sound. I had no idea who was responsible for what present.

I strongly feel that it is best to open presents first in the conference room then eat in the cafeteria as opposed to eat and later open presents in the cafeteria. There was just too much noise and confusion for me to follow what was going on. Then again maybe others felt differently and were OK with everything.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a multi-coloured striped mock turtleneck with blue jeans and black canvas tennis shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
I caught the #2 bus. The driver looks a little like singer Patti Austin. The light rail and shuttle bus are both on time.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a purple mock turtle neck blue jeans and black canvas tennis shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:

The #2 bus was nearly empty. I wonder what happened? I also noticed that the man who looks like Andy Rooney was not aboard. The shuttle was also half full. Could this all have been a direct result of Lopez’s death?

Concern of the Day: While at Walmart Yesterday, I went to Walmart to get a present for Tyra. Tyra is this year’s pregnant co-worker. This will be the first present I have ever bought for a co-worker not Christmas Secret Santa related. There have been many baby showers and a wedding thing since I started working there many years ago. The reason I never bought anything for anybody was that I didn’t have the cash. This time I had a little extra scratch.

I bought Tyra three things for her baby. I can barely recall what they were. I think I got her a baby grooming set, shampoo, and a hooded baby towel. I was going for a theme. The only thing I noticed while shopping was that baby things are dirt cheap. I guess that’s because they are small and don’t take up much space.

While at Walmart I also finally bought myself a new digital camera. I have an Olympus D-535 zoom camera. Next month I’d like to work on getting an iPod or a Sandisk flash MP3 Player. I think I would like the Sandisk most because it also has an FM receiver on it. Also the Sandisk is Mac compatible and it costs $68.00

All I know is that I’ve downloaded a lot of songs and want to get them on something so that they can stop taking up space on my hard drive. I know compared to other people I barely have a substantial amount of songs on my computer to complain or brag about. Right now I have about 60 songs ripped from my cd’s and bought from the iTunes store.

WHAT I’M WEARING:

Today, I have on a plaid green shirt, blue slacks, and black canvas tennis shoes.

I woke up this morning with the sad news that 98 Rock’s Lopez had passed away. I am very sad. KML did a show this morning that featured Lopez bits spliced in between music.

I knew that his lung cancer had taken a turn for the worse when it had been weeks since he was on the air. There will be a public funeral held.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a white long sleeve shirt, green pants, and black canvas shoes.

Yesterday’s BSO concert was great. Conductor Jack Everly and singer Ann Hampton Callaway rocked! The only thing I wasn’t too fond about was the theatrics of the Capital Quartet. I found them to be more annoying than entertaining.

Ann Hampton Callaway in contrast was very entertaining and funny. At the end of the show she wrote a song using all the words that were shouted out from the audience. The words were those that audience members felt described Baltimore. You know stuff like hun, natty boh, down the ocean, etc. Callaway was simply incredible. She was like a one woman force of nature. They could have done the show with just her and the BSO instead of junking it up with those hack saxophonists, the Capitol Quartet.

An odd thing happened on the way to show. I ran into Scotty Stevinson from Sowebo Fest on the bus. At least I think it was Scotty... It seems that every time I see him he looks slightly different. This time he had coffee cake coloured hair and looked a little like Andy Summers from The Police. Then again maybe he’s always looked that way and isn’t a human chameleon. However, I could have sworn that the last time I saw Scotty he was a brunette...

Any way while on the bus he handed me fliers for Sowebo and told me that my poster was up in Spoons which he had previously emailed me about. I wonder what Scotty will look like next year?

MORNING COMMUTE
In the pouring rain I caught the #1 bus. It was being driven by a man who looked like Sherman Hemsley. Hemsley played George Jefferson on the Jefferson.

The light rail train came at it’s usual 5:37. The shuttle bus arrived a little late. Despite the weather everything was running as scheduled albeit just a slight beat behind.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Last Symphony Show of the Season
Later this evening I’m going to the last concert of my BSO subscription season. I think I may make it out to one more show. They are doing a program of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony aka Ode to Joy in July. Beethoven’s 9th is probably one of my all time favourite Beethoven pieces.

My other Beethoven favourites are; Minuet in G, Turkish March, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, and of course Moonlight Sonata.

Tonight’s BSO pops concert is their seemingly annual big band show. I hope that Jack Everly will do as good a job as he did with the other show he did conducted earlier this season.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I’m wearing a blue denim shirt, blue jeans, and brown leather lace up shoes. I’m not wearing canvas shoes because it’s raining outside

p>MORNING COMMUTE:
The morning bus was again on time. The #2 was again being driven by the man who looks like Anwar Sadat. I’m not too excited by this, I want the LL Cool J driver back. The light rail train was also on time.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Brand Spanking New Computers!!!

We finally have our new flat screen computers up. They’re black Viewsonics. We also have black keyboards to go with the new monitors. They look Totally Bitchin’!! I apologize for the uncharacteristic language. But Wow!! They look Super Bad!! They have to be the coolest looking computers on the floor.

I still don’t like the lack of a wall. I’m not sure if I could ever get used to having to have direct eye contact with the person sitting in front of me and to the side of me. I liked that I could not see the person sitting in front. The only thing I could see was the tops of their heads. Now I’ll have to feel compelled to speak to them and acknowledge their presence. I hope that we will be getting taller walls in the future. Heck, I’ll even pitch in and buy my own walls if necessary.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
This morning I have on a mint green pullover, blue jeans, and black canvas tennis shoes. I haven’t had on the beige canvas shoes in a while because something spilled on them and they need to be washed.

MORNING COMMUTE:
The morning bus was on time. This time the #2 and #1 bus were both running one behind the other. I got on the #2 because it was the bus in front. The driver again was the Anwar Sadat looking man. This makes two days in a row he’s driven the bus. The light rail train was on time. The shuttle bus was also on time. This morning no one had to stand up on the bus. Everyone had a seat.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Where is Stephan Leggin?
For the past several weeks WTMD morning man Stephan has been missing from the airwaves. At first I thought he was on vacation. Then I noticed that his absence persisted day after day. The person who was filling for him never said if Stephan would be returning. He just started in one morning and never made mention if Stephan was on vacation or not. Then again I wouldn’t have expected the other DJ to boldly announce that he was doing the morning show for now on because Stephan was fired.

I have to admit I haven’t listened to WTMD in the morning since Stephan went missing. My mornings just aren’t the same without Stephan’s unique voice ushering in my day. If it turns out he’s gone for greener pastures I wish him good luck. The one thing I know for sure is that Stefan Leggin graduated from Towson a couple of years ago. I guess it was about time that he finally left the campus. I know it’s a long shot but I’ll have to scan the pages of the DCRTV to find out for sure. However, I doubt that they would cover the comings and goings of a small AAA college public radio station.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
This morning I have on a purple long sleeve henley, blue jeans, and black canvas tennis shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
The #2 bus was driven by a man who bore a striking resemblance to slain Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat. I feel sad that the LL Cool J looking driver isn’t back. It was kind of cool having him as a driver.

The light rail was on time. However, the 5:50 C shuttle bus did not arrive at it’s appointed time. Instead, the B Express shuttle bus arrived in it’s place. I got on the Express bus and transferred to the #8 at the Timonuim Fairground stop. I was surprised to see a coworker aboard the bus. She usually carpools with another woman that works in our department. I wonder if they’ve had a falling out?

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Missed Luncheon
It appears that Friday the 13th was the day of the service luncheon at work. I got a memo about it several weeks ago. The luncheon was being held for workers who have worked at the company for five years. I had no idea I had been there that long. In fact this is the longest I have ever worked at a company. Time flies when you’re having fun.

The reason I forgot about it was that I lost the original memo. I just assumed that when the date got nearer someone would remind us all. We got the memo’s sometime in March. Well, as you can see no one reminded anybody of anything. So on Friday after suffering a horrendous day at work on Friday I fled the building.

The reason I fled at quitting time was that I didn’t want to tempt fate by staying any longer than I had to. Friday morning our computers were down for an extremely long period of time and at the end of the day I just wanted to get out of there.

When my supervisor got to work on Monday morning he told me that I missed the luncheon and that I had gotten gifts. I had no idea that the luncheon entailed getting presents. I assumed that you would be forced to sit down and eat lunch with all the other five year workers and then get kicked out of the fancy hotel dining room. After all, I assume that they would want you to be back in time for work after eating lunch on their dime.

The gifts I got for working at the company for five years were a khaki green monogrammed bag, a star shaped note pad, and pen. They look very generic and very nice. I have no complaints.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a denim blue pullover, blue jeans, and black canvas tennis shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning there was a fire up the street near the nursing home. There was a big firetruck and two police cars blocking traffic. I had no other choice but to walk down the street and pray that I ran into a bus that was diverted through one of the side streets.

Eventually, a #1 bus came along. The bus was being driven by a chipper substitute driver. She said “Good Morning!”, to everyone. At each stop as passengers would leave she said, “Have a Nice Day!” I don’t know why but her effervescent cheeriness grated on my nerves. It’s Monday morning for Christs sakes! You should be in mourning over the loss of your weekend and counting down for the start of the next one.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Men in Pink
On the shuttle bus heading home from work there was a man aboard wearing a pink polo shirt with a popped collar. I had laughed when I listened to the Big O Dukes Show when they ridiculed men dressed like that. However, in person seeing a man dressed in pink left me with a feeling of eery displacement.

I have always regarded pink as being the sole colour representative of femininity. Pink is after all, Barbie’s favourite colour. 99& of the time I’m open minded. However, I have to admit that the sight of men wearing pink just seems wrong to me. Like all fashion trends this insanity will soon pass...

Damn you, Kanye West!!

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a short sleeve royal blue shirt, a black sweater, and black canvas tennis shoes.

Today, I just couldn’t take it anymore. After going time after time over to the >Outpost Gallifrey message board for the BBC sci-fi show, Doctor Who I finally reached my breaking point. I had to find a way to download the new series. After finding a download site for episodes of the new series I previewed them. When I previewed the episode Quicktime said I had extensions missing that were not at the website for Quicktime, thus I aborted my first try. I had no idea at the time that this was a common message you get when Quicktime in Macintosh tries to read a Windows derived video file. I now realize that all I have to do was find the codec and I would be all set. I could also take the easy way out and download another avi reader... So thus I have begun to re-download Doctor Who. I have no idea how long this endeavor will take with a dial up modem.

The one thing that made me want to see the new series by any means necessary was that I recently found out that an episode (Dalek) that recently aired was based on one of the Big Finish audio’s. I believe I’ve written before that I like to listen to the Big Finish audio’s, especially the ones that feature Paul McGann as the Doctor and India Fisher as Charlie.

The audio in question does not feature McGann and Fisher. The audio is called, Jubilee and is written by Rob Shearman who writes a lot of Big Finish stuff. Shearman also happened to have wrote the script for Dalek which was based on his audio script. I now have to find out how the TV version varied or is similar to the audio version.

Jubilee is one of the BF audio’s I have of Colin Baker’s Doctor. I’ve recently started to collect them after listening once again to Zagreus .

So now I feel it would be a bad jumping off point for my first viewing of the series to be with the Dalek episode. Instead, I think it would be best to download them in sequential order, starting off with, Rose. The Rose episode introduces >Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor and his newest companion, Rose played by Billie Piper. Piper as I understand it, is the UK’s equivalent of Brittany Spears. However, as I understand it she’s good in the series and has surprised a few folks that she can actually act.

It’s also sad to note that Eccleston has opted out of continuing the role for another season. The show however, will continue for a second season with David Tennant as the Doctor.

I spent the day listening to music I downloaded from the iTunes store. I can not wait till I get my iPod Shuffle!

DAILY COMMUTE:
It’s the third day in the row that the LL Cool J looking man has been driving the #2 bus. So far this year, this is the longest streak for a #2 bus driver. The question now ladies and gentleman in whether he’ll be back on Monday...

The light rail train was on time. The train is still being driven by a woman. When I got on the train I was the only passenger aboard the train. This occurrence is very rare.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Friday the 13th
I hadn’t realized what today was until I got into work this morning. I’m not a very superstitious person. The only bad things that happen to me so far today happened yesterday.

I tried to upload pictures from my digital camera to my computer but kept getting a message saying that the computer did not detect the presence of the camera. I had all the wiring hooked up and everything. I finally retreated and gave up at 1:38 am. This was the first time I tried to upload pictures from my camera since installing OS X.

Also yesterday, I lost the control panel on my sports walkman. I never really like that radio. I’m glad to see it go.

WHAT I’M WEARING
This morning I have on a lavender pullover, blue jeans, and black canvas tennis shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
The LL Cool J looking driver was again driving the #2 bus. He still had on the non-MTA issue blue baseball cap. He was also steadily talking on his fashionable yellow cell phone throughout the ride. This has been two days in a row he has been our driver. I wonder how long he will be sticking around?

I can’t believe it! The 7-Eleven is still out of Mountain Dew! I will have to drink the caffeine weak Pepsi instead. Argh!

In other news the light rail train was on time. The lady I like to think of as the makeup monster was aboard. I call her this because she wears a lot of makeup and when she’s on the train she’s either applying makeup to her face or fingernail polish to her hands.

The shuttle bus was again on time. For the past week or so the bus has not been crowded. I wonder what happened to cause the change? I’m happy with the bus not being crowded I’m just curious as to what happened to the passengers that were crowding the bus in previous weeks.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Tiny Cubicles
Yesterday, the workers were by to install new cubicles for the department I work for. The stigma of our department being the red haired step child of the company is still alive. Yes, we have cubicles up. Yes, the desks are larger. However the cubicles themselves are like tiny clown cars. The cubicule walls are non existent. Every other cubicle in the company has taller walls except the ones we will soon be inhabiting. I hear we are supposed to be getting flat panel computer screens. Based on how our new cubicles are built I’m sure these will be computers built by the Fisher Price toy company.

Hopefully, they will be re-doing the other cubicles in the company to look like ours. I would hate to think that our department was singled out. Those almost wall less cubicules are like Hester Prine’s scarlet letter in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter. It’s like there announcing to the company, “The red haired step children are over there in the Fisher Price cubicules!”

WHAT I’M WEARING:
This morning I have on a short sleeve royal blue pull over, blue jeans, and black canvas tennis shoes. I also have on a striped cotton jacket.

The above picture is an oil pastel painting I did. I'm not sure if I've written this before but I've recently officially joined a group of oil pastelist. The name of the group is The Oil Pastel Society. I first learned of them through the WetCanvas message board. The board is primarily populated by artists.

MORNING COMMUTE:
Today, I got on the #2 bus. The driver bore a striking resemblence to L.L. Cool J. The other thing I noticed about the driver was the he was not wearing an MTA issue baseball cap. I suppose they can wear what ever cap they want as long as it is blue.

This morning I was shocked when I went to the 7-11 and found that they were out of Mountain Dew!!! I had to improvise for my caffeine fix. I bought a 1 liter bottle of Pepsi instead.

The light rail train was on time. It's being driven by a (gasp) woman! The light rail shuttle bus was on time. It was also sparsely populated.

UPDATE OF THE DAY: Sowebo Poster
The poster I did for the Sowebo Arts Festival is now hanging up at a place called Spoons Coffee House. The Coffee House is located at 24 East Cross Street. So ladies and gentlemen, you can now go out and see the poster I created live and in person!! Yes, decide for yourself, am I an artist or a poser? Unfortunately, you do not have long to decide. It will be hanging up at Spoons Coffee House until May 28th. On the 29th it goes on display at the festival.

Right now, I'm happy that the giant collage poster has not fallen apart. Thus, I will not do my yearly lament over the fact that it was not chosen yet again, for display over at The Charles movie theatre....

WHAT I'M WEARING:
Today, I have on a long sleeve cornflower blue pullover, jeans, and beige canvas tennis shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
When I left out this morning it smelled funny outside like solid human waste. I left for the bus stop thinking the smell was just confined to my neighborhood. By the way, this morning’s driver of the #1 bus reminded me of >Lou Myers. I know not many people have the foggiest idea who he is because he’s a character actor. Myers is most famous for playing, Mr. Gaines, the cafeteria chef, on A Different World.

After I got off the bus and headed for the light rail station I noticed that the odd smell was not confined to my neighborhood. I also noticed that another north bound train was immediately following the north bound train I usually take. This was highly unusual. The trains usually fifteen minutes apart not one after the other. My only thought was that something major must have happened to cause this strange occurrence. I soon got an answer of sorts.

As the light rail train ran up the street, I saw two fire fighters walking on the sidewalk. They both looked kind of tired, one of them was holding an axe. I suppose the smell I was smelling was the last remnants of a fire or a very big accident.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Is He Really Handicapped?
As I waited for the shuttle bus I saw the odd man from a couple of months ago. This was a man who had a very over the top Baltimore accent whom I assumed was either a doofus or developmentally disabled. One day he asked a passenger on a dark cloudy day if the shuttle bus went to the train station. I found this question odd because the light rail train still goes to the train station. In fact they have trains running clearly marked, Penn Station. At the time I assumed he had just gotten off the train marked Penn Station. Hence, my feeling of thinking him a doofus!

I saw him the second time in bright daylight. He asked the same passenger the same exact question. I also noticed that he looked possibly developmentally disabled. I based this conclusion solely by the way he was dressed (baseball cap, backpack, and visible MTA pass). He looked as though his mother was still dressing him.

When I saw him the first time many months ago I thought he looked familiar. Now I realize why it was that he looked so familiar. I believe he has from time to time gotten off the bus or light rail near the shuttle stop around the same time I do.

Well, this morning he didn’t look at all developmentally handicapped. He still had on the baseball cap. On second thought it looked like it might not have been a baseball cap but a traditional cricket cap. In addition to the cap he had on a long sleeve shirt and tie. He looked perfectly normal. He looked like he could be a run of the mill business or computer guy. Perhaps he was normal all along? Perhaps he’s just an eccentric doofus and not handicapped? I guess in the end I will never know for sure...

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a red striped waffle knit henley, blue jeans, and beige canvas tennis shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning my mind was elsewhere and I wasn’t paying too much attention to the buses and trains. I was thinking about whether or not I should ditch visiting the gym I called up on Saturday. The only thing I can recall is that I did make it to work on time without major incident.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Should I Do Curves?
Today, I went to my appointment at the Curves fitness center. I went to the one on Garrison Blvd. The owner is a Muslim woman. She wore a head covering. She was very nice and got me through the circuit training. The workout in total took only 30 minutes. It was not as strenuous as I thought it would be. However, I haven’t entirely mastered all of the equipment they have there.

While working out they played very upbeat Motown music. Every now and then a bell would sound and you would have to move on the next workout apparatus. My favourite apparatus is the one where you get to jump up and down on the board.

I first learned about Curves by way of NPR. NPR was doing a story on Curves, the fast growing fitness center in America. In addition to NPR’s upbeat story about the center I recently I noticed that they have a tie in with Avon. The tie in is that you buy a certain number of products and you get a two week free pass. I thought it would be nice to give it a try before I decided to either get a free pass or sign up for membership.

My experience with the Curves on Garrison Blvd was very positive. I know that I will return there in the future. Right now, I’m thinking about going to the Curves on Light Street by the Cross Street Market. I want to go there to see how the different facilities run before I settle on just one. However, right now the one on Garrison is in the lead.

When I called the Curves on Light Street the woman who answered the phone sounded like she didn’t want me to come there. She kept emphasizing the fact that Curves was everywhere and I could select one closer to my neighborhood. In actuality the one on Light Street is closer to where I live. Now I feel a little reluctant to go to the one on Light Street. If I go there will I be the only person of colour? Should I even bother to go? To the woman who answered the phone’s credit she was nice enough to give me an appointment albeit reluctantly.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I’m
wearing pink long sleeve shirt, jeans, and beige tennis shoes.

At Curves I wore a tacky long sleeve black t-shirt with Las Vegas gambling casino’s emblazoned on it. I also had on blue cotton sweat pants. Both the items I had on were both wrinkled from being folded into my backpack. I also bought tennis shoes along. However, I decided against wearing them in the gym. Instead I decided to keep on my simple beige canvas tennis shoes. The main reason I kept them on was because I saw an old gray haired lady wearing canvas tennis shoes. I wanted to increase the ranks of the sisterhood of the canvas tennis shoe wearer.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

I'd like the time to wish all you out there who are mothers a Happy Mothers Day!

Mother's Day for me is a time that I usually hide indoors. I don't have any children. However, without fail some stranger usually comes up to me to wish me a happy mother's day. This of course makes me feel even more awkward than usual. I know that the main reason that strangers do this is because I'm black and almost everyone assumes that all black women of a certain age are parents.

Just the other day two random men came up to me and wished me a happy Mother's Day. I never quiet know how to respond to this without sounding like a bitch. So I end up saying saying thank you and awkwardly move on in a perplexed state.

I suppose all my life I've known that I would never have children or get married. I'm not a very out going person and I have unusual interests. How many 35 year old black women do you know who are obsessed with comic books, Star Wars, and Macintosh computers? I suppose when I signed up for season tickets at the symphony and Center Stage I had gleefully sealed my fate? I have to say so far I have thoroughly enjoyed my life without the everlasting commitment of children or spouses dragging me down.

For the record in case your wondering my mother passed away a number years ago. I never got the feeling that she looked forward to Mother's Day. To her I assume it was just another Sunday she had to cook a big dinner. Then again I could be wrong. For all I know she might have looked forward to the cards, flowers, and candies.

The photo above is a colorized picture of her that was taken a few months before she passed away. I did the background with leaves because green was her favourite colour. The photo was taken on Mother's Day of 1995 over at my Aunt Eunice's house. Little did we know at the time that this would be the last Mother's Day that she would ever experience. She passed away suddenty in July of the same year.

Eric Sheffer Stevens and Jenny Sheffer Stevens in Harley Granville Barker's The Voysey Inheritance

Today, I saw The Voysey Inheritance at Center Stage. The Voysey Inheritance is the last show of their 2004-2005 season. I almost didn’t go and was on my way to reschedule for another day because I was feeling kind of run down and tired. Then I went over to the Center Stage web site and noticed that Eric Sheffer Stevens was going to be in the play. I was tired and run down no more! Instead I was excited and motivated. Eric Sheffer Stevens, the turbo hottie who was last seen in Misalliance and Picnic was back in town!

First off I should give you a little background information about the play. The Voysey Inheritance was written by Harley Granville Barker who was a contemporary of George Bernard Shaw. It is often rumored that Barker was in fact the illegitimate son of Shaw. Looking back at old photo’s of Granville Barker I find it weird to write and admit that when he was alive, he was very handsome man. To paraphrase an infamous Rolling Stone magazine cover, Harley Granville Barker, he’s hot, he’s sexy, unfortunately, he’s dead. Anyway, back to the play......

The Voysey Inheritance is about a father who tells his idealistic son and business partner that their solicitors firm engages in the dubious practice of cheating their rich clients. In fact it isn’t a recent development they’ve been cheating their clients for several generations. The son becomes deeply horrified about the business secret his father has disclosed to him. The question then becomes does he carry on with his inheritance of crime or disclose the family secret.

THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE



Written by Harley Granville Barker
Adapted by Gavin Witt
Directed by Irene Lewis



THE CAST

Kelli Danaker........Phoebe

Curzon Dobell........Trenchard Voysey, Jr.

Leo Erickson........Peacey

Carol Halstead........Beatrice Voysey

Mercedes Herrero........Honor Voysey

Diane KaganMrs. Voysey........

Rob Nagle........Major Booth Voysey

Laurence O’Dwyer........Mr. George Booth

John Ramsey........Mr. Trenchard Voysey, Sr.

Kristen Sieh........Ethel Voysey

Eric Sheffer Stevens........Edward Voysey

Jenny Sheffer Stevens........Alice Maitland

Second off I should let you know that I was literally rushing to get to the theatre on time for the matinee performance. When I finally got there I noticed that it was packed. Nearly every single seat was filled. I’m not sure if this was because of David Mamet’s recent adaptation of the play or that I’m not the only Baltimore theatre goer who rushes out whenever I hear three words, Eric Sheffer Stevens. Anyway, to sum it up I felt genuinely lucky to have found an empty seat. Then there he was on the stage dressed in a brown suit. Ahhhhhh! He still had the look of being the head stud muffin. The question now was, “Was he capable of carrying an entire show?“ In the plays he’s previously appeared in he’s primarily been a supporting actor not the lead.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that throughout the play I found myself riveted by his performance and not just his male model good looks. I found it very difficult to punch any holes through his performance. Sheffer Stevens is still a pretty a boy but he’s a pretty boy that can act! I hope that with his looks and talent he successfully makes the transition to soap opera’s then possibly TV and film. Then again for all I know Sheffer Stevens could be plum happy being a stage actor, if so, may he continue doing what he loves to do. Enough drooling over one actor! On with the review!

Overall, I found the play highly enjoyable and riveting. It was an excellent play to close out the season with especially with all the buzz going around about David Mamet’s recent adaptation of the play. While watching the play I can not think of a single performer that felt weak in their acting ability. Everyone seemed to be on their game.

One thing I liked and was intrigued by was the dinning room set designed by scenic director, Allen Moyer. To me in a way it seemed reminiscent of a doll house. Then again it could be because I was sitting in the second to last row... Also I really dug how Moyer designed the office set. Basically, it was a giant black and white drawing. Since I’m an artist I was looking at it thinking to myself, ”Cool!!“

As far as the other cast members are concerned it was nice to see Laurence O’Dwyer back. He was very funny as Mr. George Booth. A man who ironically trusted the elder yet dishonest Mr. Voysey more than Mr. Voysey’s truthful and idealistic son. I suppose some people prefer to be lied to rather than told the truth.

It was also nice to see John Ramsey back again for two plays in a row. It kind of makes me wonder if he’s taken up residence and moved to Baltimore. Anyway, Ramsey rocked as Trenchard Voysey, Sr. the money embezzling father. Unfortunately, he dies by the end of act one.

There was one character I could not quiet get a hold on. That character was Mercedes Herrero’s portrayal of Honor Voysey. It wasn’t quiet her portrayal but her mode of dress. I could not figure out why all the other female characters in the play had the typical turn of the century hairstyle of hair pulled up in buns while Honor Voysey’s hair was somewhat reminiscent of a 1920’s flapper. By the way, the play takes place from 1905 to 1907. Are we to believe that the somewhat flaky Honor Voysey time travels twenty years into the future to get her hair done?

The only out and out shock I had while watching the play was when I read the playbill during intermission. I noticed that there was a cast member listed as Jenny Sheffer Stevens playing the part of Alice Maitland. I thought whoa! His sister is in the play? Playing his love interest? What a weird family! Then I read further and came to the realization that she wasn’t his sister but his wife! I was immediately shocked and crestfallen. Then a little later I recovered from my shock. I recovered with the happy realization that they must be two very forward thinking people to have taken on the same exact last name. Now I envision them as a really cool progressive couple. As far as Mrs. Sheffer Stevens performance goes she was just as good an actor as her husband.

Overall, I highly recommend that you go out and see The Voysey Inheritance. It will be at Center Stage until June 5, 2005.

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning I caught the #1 bus. The driver looked a little like r&b singer songwriter, Patrice Rushen. The light rail train was on time.

The light rail shuttle bus wasn’t as crowded as it’s been on previous days. I got to sit all by myself. It should be noted that this was the first time in several weeks that I got a seat to myself.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: The Homeless Man
This morning as I was entering the 7-Eleven, as I do nearly every morning. I ran into a homeless man standing in front of the store. He said he didn’t want any money all he wanted was a soda. I felt relieved about this. I feel uncomfortable about giving money to people on the street because I feel that they are probably going to spend it on drugs or booze.

The homeless man in front of the 7-Eleven said that he wanted one thing in particular. All he wanted was a Pepsi. I felt relieved by this and went in the store and bought him a soda along with my daily supply of Mountain Dew.

As the light rail train drove off I noticed that he was still in front of the store. It made me wonder if his plan of the day was to panhandle a whole meal. I recall him mentioning as I handed him the soda that he had been outside for an hour and 40 minutes. He told me that no one would buy him anything, not even a doughnut. I suppose his next goal would be to get a doughnut to go with the soda or maybe even a Big Bite hot dog.

WHAT I’M WEARING: This Friday I have on blue jeans, a blue pull over shirt, and beige canvas tennis shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
I got on the #1 bus this morning. There were only just six people aboard the bus. I have never gotten on a bus in the morning that was that sparsely populated. The driver by the way, looked a little like Sidney Poitier.

The light rail train was on time as was the light rail shuttle bus. I have now come up with a celebrity that the shuttle bus driver looks like. If I haven’t said it before almost every weekday at 6:50 am I get on a bus driven faithfully by the same driver. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you can understand the rarity of this situation.

After having several weeks of thinking I have come up with the celebrity my morning shuttle bus driver most resembles. The morning shuttle bus driver looks like a pudgier version of Grady from Sanford and Son. I know I’ve used Grady before in describing another bus driver, but hey that’s who he looks like. I suppose the MTA would be a great place to hold a Grady look alike contest.

DECLARATION: I’m NOT Dave LaBrozzi’s Biggest Fan
I believe this would be my very first ever declaration. It’s now official. I hate Dave LaBrozzi the head of Infinity Radio in Baltimore. I can say this because I don’t work in radio.

Why do I hate him you ask? Well, let me count the ways....
1. He fired Brian and O’Brien. He could have at least kept the funny one aka Big Don
2. He turned 105.7 into a part time radio station with two different formats
3. He flipped WQSR from an oldies format to a fad format called Jack.

Of all the things that LaBrozzi has done I’m most angriest about the WQSR format flip. WQSR has has an oldies format for well over 20 years. It was like a safe harbor for me. I could always tune in to it to hear old Beatles tunes or stuff from Motown. Right now there is no station in Baltimore with an oldies format.

I’m also mad because LaBrozzi fired all the WQSR jocks. I’m most shocked that he fired Steve Rouse of Rouse and Company. Rouse has hosted that morning show for the past 17 years. I also heard that Rouse recently signed a three year contract. Now it appears that he signed a contract for nothing. Right now, I still can’t believe that WQSR no longer exists.

I suppose that LaBrozzi has more evil plans in store for the other Infinity stations in town. I still feel that it’s a matter of time before the part time format on 105.7 either turns entirely to music or talk radio. I still feel a little scared whenever afternoon comedy talk jocks Big O and Dukes start playing a song of the day. You just know that any day now they will playing wall to wall music.

The only thing I can think to say is, Thank You Dave LaBrozzi! We now have not two, but three Infinity radio stations in Baltimore that play the same exact music!!

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today at work it’s business casual day. Since it’s business casual day I have to dress a little more spiffier. I have on a red button down sweater. I also have on a white long sleeve shirt that has a dark blue diamond print. The pants I have on are dark blue slacks. I completed the ensemble with brown leather lace up shoes.

I was up a little late last night updating my blog and I’m on allergy medicine that probably has to be changed. Overall I had a fitful sleep. I woke up a little late but still managed to get to the bus stop on time.

The #2 bus driver this morning looked a little like Billy Davis Jr. from the 70’s singing duo Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. They had a big hit with, “You Don’t Have To Be a Star (To Be In My Show).

Before I headed for the light rail station I went into the 7-11 as is my morning routine. As I paid for my usual gigantic 1 liter bottle of Mountain Dew I noticed these neat looking Star Wars spin pops on the counter. The spin pops were in the form of Darth Vader and Chewbacca. I wanted them. I asked the 20-something Latino cashier, ”How much for Vader and Chewie?“ He told me $3.99. I gasped. The cashier smiled in empathy as he told me that he thought they price too high himself. I left out the store dismayed but vowed to one day return with Chewie and Lord Vader in my hands.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Department Move
Yesterday, my department was again re-located. It is starting to seem as if we are the red haired step child of the company. The relocation is slated to be temporary. We are supposed to be moving back to our area in the next 3-4 weeks. Allegedly, we are getting bigger, newer desks and cubicles. I’ll believe it when I see it.... All I know now is that where we are now is dangerously close to being out the front door.

One good thing I can say is that because of our department’s frequent moves I have become well versed in the intricacies involved in packing. It took me no time at all to get my things in boxes. The main reason for this is because I never bothered to unpack from my departments various other moves. It seems as though once a year they relocate our department to a different area. Hopefully, when we move back it will be permanent and we will be the red haired step child no more.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a purple turtleneck that has leaves on it of unnatural colours like gold and lavender. I also have on a pair of blue slacks and beige canvas tennis shoes.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Kevin Smith’s Review of Episode III
This weekend I read a rather glowing review of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of The Sith The review was written by film maker >Kevin Smith. Kevin Smith’s review of Episode III made me want to immediately go out and buy several tickets. However, I’m not sure what kind of credence I should give it? It’s a well known fact that Smith is an unabashed fanboy. This leaves me to wonder; Was Smith truly speaking his mind? Was the review just an example of Smith kissingGeorge Lucas’ ass so that he can be considered as a writer/director for the upcoming Star Wars TV series? I suppose that in the end only time will tell.

Anyway, if his review is to believed, this movie will definitely be kicking some major ass at the box office this summer. Let’s face it with or without Kevin Smith’s seal of approval I know that I will be seeing this movie. I’ve been going to the movies to see Star Wars ever since the series began with Episode IV back in 1977. I know it’s sad, but I’ve been a devoted fan of the series since the age of seven.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
I have on a paisley turtleneck, green slacks, and beige canvas tennis shoes.

I’m off work today.

The big event of the day was trying to download a desktop weather program for my Mac. I’m doing this because I’ve always wanted to know what the temperature was outside without having to go to a special website.

I first downloaded >Weatherpop

. It seems as though no matter what version I download the program crashes. So I decided to trash weatherpop all together.

The next program I downloaded was Weathermenu. This one I found works like a charm. So far nothing has crashed and I’m getting accurate detailed temperature readings.

Today, I downloaded MacJournal

. I did this because I was tired of switching over to OS 9 just to do word processing. My computer seems to take a very long time switching from OS X to OS 9. Hopefully, blogging will be simpler and more frequent with the addition of MacJournal.

Here’s Few Rambling Thoughts I had in Between Naps Today:

Interesting Irony:
Performing at theRam’s Head this weekend were Joe Jackson on Saturday and Elvis Costello on Sunday. I found this positioning of performers synergistically ironic and bizarre. The reason I found it ironic and bizarre is that Joe Jackson is often thought of as the poor man’s Elvis Costello....

The Nazi Pope:
My reasoning behind thinking of Pope Benedict XVI aka Cardinal Ratzinger as the Nazi Pope is because as a child he was in the Nazi Youth Corp. Overall, I feel uncomfortable that they elected him Pope. Then again it means nothing to me, I’m a Unitarian. However, the comedy potential for it is great. I hear the guy has the nick name of “God’s Rottweiller”.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Right now I have on a long blue short sleeved silk night gown.