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I just saw the “Oona Wentworth” episode of Nip/Tuck.

I knew I was done being sick (from my cold) when I realized that I was feeing the full creepiness and disgustingtude of this show. Bravo to everyone who made this masterpiece of …. of…. whatever the heck it is. It’s really on it’s own out there. Nip/Tuck is a great show but I can’t tivo through two episodes…. I need to recover and digest and finally remind myself,”Well, at least I’m not as bad off as that!”

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3-14-05 update: I woke up this morning with alternating and repeating visions of Dr. Bobolit cutting his face off and Adrian pleading for his mother to make love to him. I’m feeling pretty unclean on this fine sunny morning. Yup, pretty darn unclean.

I thought I was done being sick. I spent the whole day lolling about, trying to move around and get moving. It still hurts to walk and turn my head and bend and… be.
Better than yesterday (almost stupified, moaning in bed), but not better.

A friend is having trouble deciding whether or not to go to her 10 year college reuinion. She said that she didn’t have any friends in her class year and wasn’t pleased with her career path. Here’s my comment back to her

I hardly realized that I missed my 10 year reunion, and I’m none the worse for it. I can only name a handful of friends from college and I keep track of most of them.

Last year, I went to a reunion of a middle school group… it was terrific. I’m so glad I went. I was initially bothered that careerwise, I was just starting a tiny little business while the other people were… let’s see, working for the US Patent Office, a Washington lawyer, making computers understand speech, teaching high-level math in college, “on a break” from working at the U.N. and other worldly pursuits. But they saw my situation differently. They saw me as independent and gutsy. And we all had a good time talking about the various paths we’ve taken. Most important was that being with these really old friends was touching an important part of my past. That felt really good.

So, as far as your 10 year reunion… If there’s no one you’d care to see, then don’t go. You’ll just get that many more mailers from the school, begging for money for a new building or something; whatever it is, it won’t make any personal connection. That’s what’s important.

Yesterday I was so sick. It started with a hacking cough 2 days ago and progressed. I went to bed at 10pm the night before last and…. didn’t get out of bed for 39 hours.

Everything hurt. Rolling over hurt. Getting up to use the bathroom was torture. But enough about me.

I’m coming out of it. My sister came over and gave me some needed TLC, baby pastina soup and orange juice. That was good. I got to talk with VC on the phone. That was good too.

Go to these websites, type in your name and they’ll tell you if there are any state “unclaimed monies” due to you. My friend Jen saw that I was owed money by the University of Massachusetts and gave me a call. I haven’t actually be able to claim the money yet but, yes, it’s totally legit.

National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators
MissingMoney.com

update 3-18-05: Yup, the University of Massachusetts owes me about $600. I just have to provide my current address at the time. Ack! I don’t remember the exact address so I’m asking some MA friends if they can help out.

update 9-10-14: It turned out that the money owed was because the registrar didn’t know to apply a payment to a class I took way back in the ’90’s. So they turned the check over to the state. This actually turned out to be useful because it helped me deduce why I couldn’t get my transcript from them when applying to grad school! The State of Massachusetts owed me $653 and University of Massachusetts wanted $653 before they’d release my transcript. We sorted it all out.

I am in the DNA Lounge in San Francisco.

Hey Trav, I was in The Crucible earlier tonight checking out a presentation about a monster fridge and teched-out sailboat and who walked by but Geo! I know 5 people in San Francisco and bump into 1 by accident! How about that?

This is just a little ping to say that I’m doing well. I’ve visited Berkely and Oakland with S.H. Very good vibe. She asked me why I was going to Grass Valley. “Because 3 friends have told me that it’s a place to check out if I want that “hippier” feel.” She wasn’t sure but doubted that ascertion so we walked into a bookstore and I had to pick up 4 CA travel guides before I found even a mention of Grass Valley. And that was more of a blurb than a listing. Aparently, Grass Valley’s claim to fame is some woman who (if I remember correctly from Fodor’s guide) entertained the gold miners in 1850 with her Spider Dance. She wasn’t a particularly good dancer, but she was very well known. Fodors listed 2 places to eat and one place to visit. At that, S.H. and I simultaneously, in harmony, said, “What the hell were they thinking?”

I’m in Santa Cruz right now and I keep reading in the papers how the whole area gets wiped off the map every couple decades… and they’re pretty much due for another disaster soon.

MetroSantaCruz, Feb 23rd, 2005

Naturally, because the odds are against us. The sexy strip of land we call downtown is part of the natural floodplain of the San Lorenzo River–witness that this is the 50th anniversary of the 1955 flood that devastated downtown. The soil here is subject to liquefaction in an earthquake, and if there ever was a major tsunami on the West Coast (soothing experts say it’s is extremely unlikely), well, the downtown is right in the tsunami run-up area. If we were golfers, we’d call the spot where downtown Santa Cruz landed a bad lie.

“I keep looking over my shoulder for the locusts,” says John Lisher, owner of Artisan’s Gallery. Lisher was one of the many merchants who owned businesses on Pacific Avenue when the Loma Prieta earthquake destroyed the downtown on Oct. 17, 1989.

Good Times weekly (speaking about Santa Cruz…)

…That’s the typical California cycle – flood, drought, wildfire, and flood with landslides…

It’s very pretty here, but doesn’t have the peppy vibe I’m looking for.

I’m liking Berkeley and Oakland.

More later.

I told a bunch of people that I was leaving at 3:30 for my 5:30 flight… I didn’t think too much of it… nobody said anything… I’ve done it lots of times before….. right? Hey, what’s all this fog doing in my brain?

• left home at 3:30 for a 5:35 flight
• made deposit at ATM
• mailed express mail package
• 3:45, called sister from exit 30
• got on 287
• got on 24
• small tie up getting onto 78
• drove under "Welcome to Newark Airport" sign at 4:30, “An hour before the flight, a little tight, but no problem.”
• got parking ticket at 4:37 (so says the ticket)
• parked
• walked into Terminal
• Peed
• Found "Continental Elite" checkin station
• Found "All You Riff-Raff" checkin station
• Got in line at 4:58
• Checked in at 5:05
• No wait, the flight is at 5:20. They had changed it a month ago and notified me but I hadn’t groked that.
• Fuck.
• Booked for 7am flight the next day
• Left parking lot at 5:25 in a crushed daze.
• 5:45 Got in bizarro argument with mother where she kept trying to
  manipulate my unhappiness. Hung up on her.
• 5:50 called sister
• 5:55 called S.H. with change of plans
• 6:00 ate greasy gross dinner at Popeyes Chicken, enjoying how much I
  disliked the food.
• 6:30 moped in restaurant
• 6:45 wandered Hudson Mall aimlessly (and realized that it had 2 Foot
  Locker stores less than 200 feet apart… that insanity got my mind off my problem for a couple minutes)
• 7:00 drove back to Bumpkettstown
• 8:45 Got there after sucky sucky drive. I almost fell asleep on the
  highway… (which is why I can’t go to parties in NYC…. On 2 different
  occations I’ve taken > 4 hrs to get home because I kept needing to pull over
  and nap.)
• 9:45 bed time. I’ve got to leave for the airport at 4 am.

Tuesday Feb 22nd – Arrive SFO at 8:40pm
Tues – Oakland with S.H.
Wed – Meet T in San Jose, continue w/ to Boulder Creek
Thurs – check out Santa Cruz, San Jose
Fri – Check out Grass Valley. Unstructured.
Sat – Check out Grass Valley. Unstructured.
Sun – Oakland with B.
Mon – Pacifica with G.
Tues – Berkeley with J.?
Wednesday March 2nd – Leave SFO at 11:15am. Arrive EWR at 7:40pm

Is it a vacation?
Is it trying to run away?
Is it dumb?
Is it a violation of family trust?
Tough. I’m going.

I do, you know.
(though it would still be nice if some friends chimed in occationally)

I used “I Blog For Me” as the title of my blog for the past few weeks.