Michael's Diary -- 2001-2003 Archive

Hi.

This is my old weblog archive and is no longer actively updated. Please visit this link for my current blog.

Archives
<< current

4.26.2003

[Listening to: Ngankarrparni (Sky Blue) [Reprise] - Peter Gabriel - Long Walk Home: Music from the Rabbit-Proof Fence (06:02)]

Wow, so, no posting yesterday. Basically busy with clients and errands most of the day. A little hung over from going out for a few (only like, 3) beers with some of the guys. But I woke up after breakfast and had three good service calls, got the car washed, lunched at my favorite bagel place (Chicago Bagel Authority). Came home after a late call and G and I went up to Evanston, our old stomping grounds when we first met, and saw the utterly hilarious A Mighty Wind. Some folks have compared this unfavorably to Waiting for Guffman or Best in Show but I found it funnier, maybe because I have had to work with people like the folkie characters in the movie. Harry Shearer made me laugh with the slightest waggle of his ridiculous Amish beard. Afterwars, we went to Nevin's pub for some French Onion soup, sauteed shrimp and a sausage roll.

Slept in today, the usual breakfast, tidied up the house, organized all the DVDs and CDs, and went shopping for new pants & shorts while G studied. I have gone from a size 56 in September to a size 50 as of now. Long way to go, but good progress indeed. Have to get better about exercising. Lately we have been trying to do it together but I am going to start doing it on my own as well just to be certain to get my licks in each week. More exercise is better than less, or none. It makes such a huge, incredible difference and even though I really don't enjoy it, I feel a lot better having done it.

Tonight we are going to meet Shome and Kristin and explore Wicker Park's restaurants and clubs, and see what tickles our fancy. It will be fun!

Ick. A remake of The In-Laws is coming out soon with Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks in the roles played by Peter Falk and Alan Alda in the hilarious original, respectively. Don't know why anyone would bother remaking this great and relatively recent comedy, which fortunately is out on DVD in a couple of weeks.
7:16 PM

4.24.2003
I'm having a very distracted week. Personal stuff, not stuff for a public diary like this. Basically just trashed my entire to-do list, have to reorganize the whole thing. I've felt so unmotivated on personal projects that things were heaping up on my active tasks lists. I need a break, badly.
8:23 AM

4.23.2003
OK. So, stopping back at the house for lunch and a couple of to-dos. Then back out, not very booked today so I can take care of some other business. Not exactly feeling my oats today as it were. At least it's sunny out, if a little cool.
1:49 PM

[Listening to: More Than This (The Polyphonic Spree Mix) - Peter Gabriel - More Than This (single) (05:08)]

Just a quick post to see if that worked. A new Windows Media Player plugin for w.bloggar allows me to enter whatever music I'm listening to while making my entry.
1:45 PM

4.22.2003
Shouldn't have bothered with the ball game. The Mets sucked big time. A 6-1 drubbing. Also, I have a headache. Too much gazing into computer screens. Sleepy. Bed soon.
9:48 PM

Today, a lesson in why I keep a diary -- I log on, check my last entry, and I read it, and I realize how my state of mind changes, and I am reminded of how responsible we are for our own happiness. I don't mean that in a loner kind of way. We are making up our reality as we go along, in a real and practical sense, and what we choose to focus on give us immense power -- or limits us, I guess.

Sorry to come over all Tony Robbins on you but that's the kind of observation about my life that I keep a diary to stumble across.

Yesterday was a busy day at a customer I've been working for for the last couple of weeks, upgrading a network. Real nice folks and appreciative. Today, down to the south side for one virus emergency, and north again for another. Please, if you are reading this, make sure your antivirus software is updated.

Home now, and feeling lazy. Want to watch the baseball game tonight. But . . . I have work I need to do on some of my projects, and I have to do my breakfast dishes still. Really, my life is not so tough or anything really to complain about. A bit prosaic and boring sometimes perhaps. But I am having a hard time feeling motivated anyway maybe if life was worse I would be more motivated -- and I am being passive about it, like motivation is something that just comes to you. Want to take a walk with Genevieve when she gets home from school. Perhaps I can do a little work after that, and still squeeze in the ball game. I'll have to do the dishes now, then. Tune in tomorrow for another thrilling installment.
6:45 PM

4.21.2003
This weekend was kind of strange. Genevieve and I both felt a little "off" during and after our week, and this feeling persisted through the weekend. We went out with friends on Saturday night -- Steph & Mark -- and ended up splitting up late-night, Mark & I to listen to music at our place and Steph & Genevieve to go dancing at a club. A late night, and so very late sleeping on Sunday. G & I had a good talk about some things in our life, and ended the weekend on a very positive note all told, I felt.

Made it a priority in my weekly planning to have a more positive outlook. There are quite a few things I can't change (at the moment) in life that I'm not happy with. Last week felt like an extended pity-party focusing on these. It's much more useful to focus positive energy on the things I can work effectually on. SO that's a focus for the week.

Stayed up late last night, mostly because I slept so late, watching The Last Temptation of Christ, a fitting film for Easter night. A wonderful, heartfelt film. Every time I watch it, I get new things from it -- on a spiritual, emotional level as well as on a technical level -- it's brilliantly made. Highly recommended if you've not seen it, and it gets better on repeat viewings. It's hard to understand the completely wrong-headed appraisals of this film and the novel on which it is based which continue to appear to his day. The fundamental misunderstanding is that the Jesus story presented by Kazantzakis and adapted by Scorsese represents a metaphor for God's struggle in his creation. In truth, the film is about man's struglle to reconcile his dual nature. It's a use of Jesus' story, made immediate, tactile, and visceral ("I wanted to make a Jesus who didn't glow in the dark," said Scorsese, referencing Jeffrey Hunter's phosphorescent turn as the extremely white Jesus in King of Kings) as opposed to remote and mythical. There's a lot more I could write -- for example, I could go on about Peter Gabriel's magnificent and unique music for the film -- but I have to get to work.
8:16 AM