So my workout schedule has been pretty good so far. Im still sore almost every day, but its less debilitating than it was to start out with, and Im working out for 45 minutes to an hour, so its sort of supposed to happen, I think. If I wasnt sore, something would be wrong.

Item!

Scott and Sharon are coming tomorrow morning!

For a four-day weekend, theyre visiting from the summer heat and humidity of Baltimore. Its in the 90s there all weekend, supposedly, so LA is going to feel downright cold. At least were scheduled to have some sun.

Thats all the news thats fit to print at the moment – Im trying to set up meetings for BEEFS, trying to get some story written for the new thing Im working on, and trying to make sure I work enough to pay the bills. I should also consider ways to shoot new and different things. Well see how that goes.

I know Im not supposed to update twice in a day, but this was just too good to pass up.

So from Slashdot, I was linked to this story. Dateline NBC sent this girl armed with a hidden camera to catch hackers in the act of talking about illegal activities.

If I was that girl, Id be pissed. And embarrassed (which she seems to have been…), of course. Mostly for being involved with Dateline at all, the tools. I have no problem with investigative journalism – this chick didnt break any laws that I know about or anything, but you and I both know that NBC was planning some sensationalist bullshit like the Dance Wars (or whatever it was called) reports by Fox when i was in college and Datelines own vigilante journalism in the form of To Catch A Predator.

Happy Friday!

Three days in, and Im just getting a sense of what Ill be trying to do now that Im going to the gym. Im in pain even when Im not moving, but thats okay – I havent worked out in over four years. Yeesh. Im also the weakest guy there. Its sort of pathetic. Im okay with it now, but its going to get harder when I can no longer rationalize it with the fact that Im only on day three and still sore from day one.

Im going to have to have a routine down, this much I know, but its interesting to note how much strength Ive lost and how much lower my endurance is. Its going to take a lot of work to get back in shape, but thats what Im paying for, I guess. Ive never joined a gym before, so theres a lot of new things to consider.

Im considering donuts right now, though. I mean, ab work, bench presses and two bike rides in the last two days (with Emily and her new bike) all amount to nothing if I dont go and eat 200% of my US RDA of saturated fat right now. Then Ill have lunch.

Vegas never quite seems to live up to the hype for me. I am tired, though, which means it couldnt have been too relaxing, right? I didnt manage to get any more tan, which is frustrating, but maybe a sign that I need to lay off the 4SPF for next time I go out in the sun. I dunno when thatll be, but itll happen. School Girl night at Body English was pretty rad, but way too crowded. The saving grace for that place was the free champagne. Oh, and the girls on the balcony flashing their boobs to the whole club. And me without my camera, right? Weak.

This week, Im going to try to get my ass in gear creatively, and catch up on some leftover computer work as well. No Monday movie tonight (Casey is working), so maybe well see something tomorrow night. THE SIMPSONS was average – after 18 years in the making, I didnt expect anything more.

Happy Monday night!

Happy Birthday, Pop!

I hope today is an uncommonly good day full of positive things and love. I consider myself uncommonly lucky to have you as a grandfather – thanks for being there all the time no matter what. Im thinkin about you today more than usual – sending good vibes your way.

I just learned that you spell “judgment” “judgment” and not “judgement,” as Ive been spelling it all my life. Why and how I never knew this before is beyond me. I usually think of myself as a competent speller, too. Weird.

Now back to your regularly-scheduled internet.

Im not going to review it or spoil it, but I am going to say that the final Harry Potter book did not disappoint me. I look forward, after my lending spree, to reading it again. I do hope someone I know finishes it soon so that we may discuss it.

Also, I never thought Id need a “books” category.

Since I was so far behind on Facebook (but have finally joined…), I dont want to be out of the loop with Joost, too. Not that Im gambling that itll be the Next Big Thing or anything, but it might, and since I cant just join up, I figure Id try to get an invite.

Harry Potter comes out today! Well, technically tomorrow, but still. Ive gotta start dealing with the lines and people and crowds at 9am, so thatll be fun. Then tonight at midnight is the actual pick-up, so its sort of an all-day HP fest.

Also today is Matts post-guest fast. I ate so much in the last 2 days that I feel like I should fast for at least a few consecutive hours to make up for the consecutive hours of eating I accomplished. But it was tasty. And also fun to be the fat guy at the beach. Im still not tan.

I thank you in advance for your Joost invite, should you have one.

Since my last update, I dont feel like much has happened, but that feeling isnt wholly true.

Take yesterday as an example. My mom came to visit! So instead of nothing happening, I was actually too busy to update. And the day before that, I worked feverishly on ElPunal – soon to be a tee shirt website.

I havent done much when it comes to web work this week, but Ill be getting back to it in the next couple of days. Im building my list of things Ive gotta do, anyway. With more and more sites under my sway, the list grows easily and like a weed.

Other big news from the week – Scott & Sharon are coming to visit! Towards the beginning of August, Mr. & Mrs. Vail will be out California way. I should already be making plans, because I know how disappointed Scott is going to be if we dont see and do everything there is to see and do.

Since Drew updated his blog, I feel the insane tug of nerdiness even more than usual, and knew that the only way to be comfortable again was to update Clapboard with even a short missive.

Today, we go to the beach.

Today is your lucky day! Or it is if you like it when the 13th falls on a Friday. Okay, I know today isnt a holiday, but Ive been bad about updating, so thats what you get.

Does anyone know anything about region-free DVD players? Is it worth going to Target or somewhere to buy an ultra-cheap hackable player to augment my current (un-hackable) Sony changer? Im thinking about doing it because there are DVDs that come from other places that are totally worth watching, but are unavailable in Region 1, right? DELICATESSEN, anybody?

Also, I talked my landlord out of putting all concrete in the back yard so well still have some grass. It might actually be a change for the better – well see. So Ive averted Friday the 13ths unluckiness, at least for now.

Saw the 12:15 show of Harry Potter last night. Liked it quite a bit. I havent
been talking about movies as much as Id like to, so Im working on changing
that. I think I might be suffering from a lack of structure in my day-to-day
at the moment. Maybe I should get a job. Then, of course, I wouldnt have nearly
as much time, but still….

Redundant Post Title & Post Topic? Check!

BootieLAs second anniversary was a fun time and our BBQ was a resounding success, I think. Opinions have yet to pour in, but with the amount of food we served, it couldnt have been much but a success.

Probably San Diego tomorrow, and maybe the beach sometime this week (I havent been in a LONG time now). Maybe twice this week. Also, tons of web work – ShoeHardware is up and running and selling shoelaces like hotcakes, so thatll keep me busy for awhile. There are lots of little problems and issues that Im fixing, although the site seems to be doing the job of taking orders and getting them delivered without a hitch. Otherwise, I have a zillion projects to complete. A zillion.

Its suddenly been a long time since Ive updated again. Why? I dunno. New York, I guess. I worked a lot. Saw TRANSFORMERS. Loved it. What else? Put pictures up on Picasa (click here). Wandered around Manhattan with CJ. Stayed with Katie, Andy & Amy. Went out late on Tuesday night. Had an all-around good time.

Yesterday, did a lot of cleanup and organizing, then replaced the AIO at Winston’s (I’m so hip!). That place is getting quite the staff. Then CJ & I went to see RATATOUILLE. Cute – decent characterization, and great digital vistas of a Paris of Yore. Now Im working on the homepage for ShoeHardware. Its going live today or this weekend – go buy stuff!

I love my new AIO, btw. I’m now a scanning/copying/printing MAVEN. I don’t fax, though. A boy must have principles.

90 years old today! Happy Birthday!

Im looking forward to our brunch – so many people are coming, its almost absurd. Im going to try to take a lot of pictures and see everyone, despite the lack of time. Its not every day that someone you love turns 90, so were going to celebrate.

Glen Mills!

Harrowing as it may have been, we made it here late last night. The story went as follows:

• 5:45 landing at JFK
• expensive cab ride with a chatty cabbie who loved PATTON and WW2. Misplaced daddy worship? Yes!
• breakfast at the Moonstruck diner. Is that like the TV show?
• Work from 9 – 1 with MWS (and CJ!) that included running cable and getting supplies
• Lunch with MT & RF (RF being a college friend of CJs)
• DIE HARD 4 at 34th Street – awesome
• Grabbed our stuff from MWS and got a 6:30 train outta Penn Station
• Picked up in Media at 11 after 3 trains and a bunch of phone calls to alternate options by KF, who is this trips personal Jesus
• sleep
• wake to the every-half-hour calls from an IRA meeting scheduler
• update clapboard

So thats my up-to-the-minute situation. Keep close – more is coming.

Tonight, Im off to New York red-eye style. Were off to New York, in fact, and, with all thats on the menu, its going to be a busy trip, to say the least. The agenda looks sort of like this:

• Thursday: NYC.

  Some MWS, some searching out tasty food. Train to Media in the evening. Anyone know a good cab company in Media? Hell, anyone know ANY cab company in Media?

• Friday – Sunday: Hometown Pride

  Grandma O turns 90 on Saturday, so weve got a lunch in her honor. We may go see the Philly Zoo (in keeping with our Zoo-Craziness Campaign) on Friday or we may be too busy working on the house and yard. Well see.

• Monday – Wednesday: NYC again

  Ive got to work on Monday & Tuesday and we leave on Wednesday, but were going to try to squeeze in some Transformers, some bar hopping, some sight seeing and some good eating. Im also going to get some Dunkin Donuts.

So… Thats the plan, in case anyones interested in meeting up while were back east. Even though mostly my time is planned for me, I want to make sure to make the best use of my time as possible. Call me or e-mail me if you wanna try to get together and well make something happen.

In the meanwhile, I have to pack and work and clean. Cant come home to a house and home as messy as the one in which Im currently living. My attention to detail has really fallen by the wayside recently. Crazy anal-retentive cleanliness gene… failing… discomfort… growing……..

Happy Wednesday.

Hot off the presses, heres a pair of movie reviews from tonights Monday night movie – ONCE. John Carney (“circus folk – small hands”) directed this flick from the Emerald Isle that we saw at the Arclight. Heres a pair of reviews from me and Casey, to give you an idea, either of the movie or of our differing movie tastes.

So Im looking into setting up a super-simple phone system, and Im wondering why I cant manage to find even the most basic list of what Im going to need. Theres no mention of hardware that seems completely obvious to me, and I dont understand what that hardware is, exactly, without someone saying “you need a BLAH to get connected to your major telco.” Also, I dont know what SIP is.

Looks like Im playing outside my field on this one. What else is new?

Just thought Id mention that because I tried to install the updated Beta for Safari for Windows and it blew chunks. The install locked up my system the first time, then the second, it went smoothly, but when the promised-browser opened, there were no menu bar items (although the places they should have been highlighted when I zoomed over them with my mouse) and the address bar wouldnt take any addresses.

Ill try one more time today (Ill restart first and have nothing open, just to give Apple a fighting chance), but Im not optimistic for the worlds most stable operating system at the moment.

I cant believe a week has gone by – I feel like nothings happened, but that cant be true. This is an update to break me out of the habit of not updating, and to make it seem less intimidating to update when I actually have something to say. Im trying to be efficient again, but I have things to fix and stuff to do.

More later. WAITRESS tonight. OCEANS THIRTEEN was pretty good, if a little disjointed.

I feel a little like my weekend started on Thursday, since I eventually left for San Diego and crawled through traffic that afternoon. Friday was a movie day for me, waiting for Cathryn to finish her business before heading back up here for the “real” weekend. I ended up getting back far too late to go to the once-vaunted Spider Club, and opted instead to go to bed.

Saturday was a do-nothing day – I caught up on work and on some e-mails, but mostly it was laundry and wishing that my computer crashed less. Then, Saturday night was BootieLA. Its at a new location, but it was a great one, and a great party to boot. Next month is the 2-year anniversary, so that should be fun, too.

Yesterday I struggled out of bed after a mere 4 hours of sleep to go with CJ to get some shoes for work, then got home and immediately went down to Venice to go surfing. My first surfing experience basically ever was marred by a terrible calf cramp (I only seem to get them in the water – why is that?) and terrible weather (60, cloudy and windy as hell), but overall, it was still a very very fun experience. I even managed to get up on my board some.

Last night, Pris finally got home so she and I went out for a drink to celebrate her return from Barcelona and her birthday (albeit a day late) and then a collapsed into bed. five hours later, here I am. It was a long day yesterday.

Sprint has generally been good to me as far as customer service goes, but because I missed the 30-day cancellation on the mobile broadband thing, Im SOL (as they say) and have to pay the $200 early termination fee. As it stands, thats cheaper than 3 months of service, so Im coming out ahead by the end of the summer (when Id be using the card very little if at all).

Technology often gets the best of me, if I do say so myself.

Anyone want to help me build a better NAS box for my house? Im currently running a full WinXP machine, but I feel like I might be better off running something else, and maybe some dedicated hardware would do the trick. Now, if only I had time to set something up, and test it. Geh.

Nerdy!