11.30.99 >> In trying to find out the Latin term for the fear of being lost, I discovered how to use a compass.

In the backwash of movies like The Haunting and Blair Witch Project, one should note that the restless dead are old news to people who go hunting for the voices from beyond. Now hear the dead in RealAudio!

Mmmmmmmm. Zombie Meatloaf, just like Mom used to make.

I'm feeling so spooky because I'm working belatedly on getting pictures from Halloween up on the site. Part 1 is done, now that I had a spare hour... check it out in photog.

One more spooky thing: Gothic Martha Stewart (?!!!?!??). Actually, this is kind of cool if you're into some of the fashion and decorating without the pretention. The site is actually very unpretentious, which surprises me after some of the goths I've known... I've probably just been unfortunate. The site is a breath of fresh crypt air.

11.29.99 >> After having seen Laputa: Castle in the Sky by director Miyazaki Hayao, and seeing what incredible storycrafting he's capable of, I cannot wait to go see Princess Mononoke in the theater. Miyazaki has a way of keeping you on the edge of your seat with the mundane, and keeping the arcane as arcane even as the protagonists encounter it.

Also on the list of future outings: I have tickets to the Stereolab concert in Chicago. Finally, a chance to see my favorite band for the last few years live. Hopefully they'll be as nice as Add N to (X) was when we saw them. Barry, the lead singer, made a point to come out with the eight people who came to see them instead of Atari Teenage Riot and chat for a while.

You might want to avoid Wendy's chicken products if you're in the Chicago area. I just got a bone in my pita. Ick.

Map the Internet.

Although the page is overlogged, I find it kind of funny that the Wu-Tang name generator has dubbed me "Lesbian Norman." My roommate came out as "Excitable Shaolin." Both seem kind of accurate. All in all kind of spooky.

11.28.99 >> The new site design is launched. Not bad for a day's work. As it's 5am and I need sleep, I'm going to worry about the new sections later. I have much more planned.

Running Tally will be going down on December 1st to participate in a Day Without Weblogs, corresponding with Visual AIDS' Day Without Art. I consider myself lucky that the two people I know with HIV -- or I should say, the two I'm aware of -- are relatively healthy (though one did give us a scare last year when he caught pneumonia).

11.27.99 >> Though it really shouldn't give me any feeling of kinship in and of itself, finding another gay weblogger gives me that warm fuzzy feeling. Or something.

I gave him credit over on Kein, but his fonts are seeing a lot of use over on nmn, too. So, please visit Ray at Larabie Fonts, marvel at his work, download some stuff, then send him something for his troubles, as all the stuff is free.

Looks like someone dorked the openlog. Nice going, whoever it was.

11.26.99 >> Post-Thanksgiving and I survived. But really... I am thankful.

11.23.99 >> Access has been nil for the last few days as Sam works on the new webserver. I can get back in now, though. Huzzah.

Today marked the birth of another nmn weblog (oh fuck, another one!). Kein is potentially the brainchild of around 30 people to whom I gave the password. It's semi-weblog-anarchy.

11.18.99 >> I got back the first batch of pictures from the road trip back, and only half of them came out. They also neglected to produce the photo CD that I ordered. They didn't even bother to cut the negatives. I'm a little annoyed.

This is a card game to end all.

11.17.99 >> I'm back and I am the embodiment of tired. And now I have to go back to work. Oh well. One might suggest a good stiff drink.

Mahir tells his side of the story on how his web page became so popular.

11.10.99 >> Stopping back in at home. Ugh. Tired. And found out I was incorrect about Ammachi; she's an avatar of Kali, not Devi. But she manifests Devi during Devi Bhava. Ever get the feeling that things were easier when the gods didn't walk the earth?

So if Morpheus contacted Mr. T about the nature of reality, who would win in the ensuing fight? Think about it.

Preview of the trip so far: we saw two nuclear reactors, I climbed a ladder leading nowhere and broke something, there was some liquid nitrogen, a McDonald's sprawled across a highway, Freak Central in Madison, a beer garden, a woman mumbling strange things, and a polaroid of a naked seventy year old, left in a public bathroom. This should be a good tale.

11.08.99 >> I'm road tripping. Good bye. Back tomorrow for a bit then gone for up to a week. I promise to take pictures.

11.07.99 >> Remember MTV when it was actually like radio with pictures? When they had five VJs that were responsible for presenting everything? Ever wonder what happened to them?

Mark Goodman is here in Chicago, hosting a game show for the Illinois Lottery.

11.06.99 >> Mahir, the man behind the infamous Turkish webpage (the best home page ever, below) is having a sense of humor about all the publicity he's been getting. In fact, he's added links to the Salon article, the Flash tribute, and a photo some employees from flyswat.com had sent him. He has reached celebrity status with nothing but honesty. Again, I love the web.

My dad likes wrestling.

11.05.99 >> This is an interesting astrological tidbit I found from Rob of Real Astrology: The Japanese have a word, wabi, that I'd like to apply to you now. It refers to a captivating work of art with a distinctive, beautiful flaw that embodies the idiosyncratic humanity of its creator. An aqua groove in an otherwise perfectly green ceramic pot may give it wabi. A skilled blues singer who intentionally wails out of pitch for a moment may be demonstrating wabi. Wabi is rooted in the idea that perfection is a kind of death. You, my soulfully imperfect friend, are full of wabi right now.

Eep.

11.04.99 >> In three (or four) days I leave for Madison. Then it's off to Ann Arbor, then possibly Cleveland. Toronto was considered but went right out when Vinay pointed out that he could leave the country, but may have trouble getting back in. Damn single-entry work visas.

The best home page ever gains attention.

And even more, in Flash.

11.03.99 >> Considering that this is essentially a weblog -- even if in a slightly obfuscated way -- it seems odd linking to an article bemoaning the hype surrounding weblogs. Maybe if I knew about all the supposed hype, I could agree more enthusiastically with the author's opinion. However, if this does make me a journalist, it is in the sense more of a journal writer, not a news reporter. This portion can give you a better idea of what I'm going on about day by day than anything else ever could. It's assisted (and encouraged) voyeurism. And I do it for myself as well, so I can remember where I've been. My memory sucks.

11.02.99 >> Remember the really nice woman I mentioned before? Her name is Ammachi, and they say she's an avatar of Devi, the Hindu archgoddess. I'm going on a road trip next week to see her in Ann Arbor. Far out. Expect a photo-essay of the trip in the photog section of null means null when I get back and get it all scanned. Though I'm still working on it (like everything else on this site... honest), you can preview what little I have so far.

11.01.99 >> Okay. Someone apparently was really bored. But they're still hiring.

On the way over to a presentation my friend and I had to go to for work:

Sam: I don't want to watch this video again.
Me: But this time we have a workbook to go along with it! Now it's interactive.
Sam: You should go work for Wired.
Me: I meant "interactive" like getting bitten by a snake is interactive.

Man, this is it. This is the best personal homepage ever. He likes sex. He gives us his phone numbers. He never gives us his fucking name. I love the web.