A Lefty Writes

Pictures from my vacation are here! (I decided to try flickr instead of my photo gallery... just seemed easier.)

Posted by Daniel at 11:26 PM | Comments (1)

That's right, I just registered to attend my 5-year college reunion. And you know what that means? That means that the rest of you have to attend as well. That's right, I'm talking to everyone who graduated in 2002 from Brandeis. All of you whose weddings I went to last year. All of you who I occasionally get mass Friendster messages from (you know who you are).

If you don't then I'm going to end up spending the weekend surrounded by people whose names I don't remember but who were once in that class that I took to fulfill a requirement one semester and who talked too much and asked dumb questions just to hear the sound of their own voice. Yeah, them. Our class had more than its fair share of them.

So that's my plea. I've already offered my guest room to out-of-towners for the weekend, but there's plenty of floor space here too if that's what it's going to take to get people here. Just let me know.

Posted by Daniel at 06:59 PM | Comments (1)

3 days, 6 airports, 8 or 9 vodka tonics, countless hands of poker, very little sleep... one hell of a bachelor party.

This past weekend was spent in Vegas and LA celebrating Afsheen's becoming a man remaining months of freedom. After excessive amounts of poker and a good bit of drinking, I'm pleased to say that the event was a success. Of course, after three days of heavy travel and little sleep, getting up at 7 this morning for work was a little difficult, but I managed to caffeinate myself enough to get through the day.

One thing I learned was that I'm not quite as bad at poker as I had previously thought. I still need to learn some patience, but when I remind myself that no, 8-5 off suit is not worth seeing to the flop, I play decently. Still not great, mind you, but decently.

Now, of course, I'm addicted to the game. I know that I have friends here who do a semi-regular poker night, but I haven't been able to attend in the past because of work.

Anyway, back to the weekend...

I also got to spend a night in LA and see some friends (and cats) while I was there. It was definitely good to get to see people, especially since I don't know when I'll be able to get back there to visit again. Now that I have a regular job, I don't get quite as many opportunities to take a week to fly across the country. (And I'm already devoting some of my opportunities for time-off to this year's batch of weddings.)

So in conclusion, it was a great weekend. Still kind of tired, time to get some sleep.

Posted by Daniel at 10:44 PM | Comments (1)

Has anyone seen the last 27 years? When did I become an adult? Sure, after college you're supposedly a grown-up, but no one in their early 20's has any right to feel very old.

Even 25 and 26 are still miles away from 30.

But 27... boy. In 3 years I'll be 30. I don't think I ever thought about 30 before. It always seemed very vague and distant. 30 is when people have spouses and real jobs. 30 is when people have children! 30 is when people know what they're doing with the rest of their lives.

Somehow most of those things seem to be farther than 3 years away.

But aside from all that, 27 is good so far. Aliza and I went to New York last weekend and this weekend I'll be getting together with some friends to eat, drink, and wallow over how old we are. (It'll probably be more fun than I made it sound just now.)

I have a pretty good sense about 2007/27. I think it's going to be a good year for me. Time will tell.

Posted by Daniel at 08:45 PM | Comments (2)

After a few days and many voiding of my warranties, I have now been able to turn my Verizon-crippled phone into one that does 99% of the things I want it to. I have all of my ringtones, some non-standard graphics, and have re-activated some features that Verizon doesn't want me to use (for example, notification if I'm roaming... they'd rather have me talk for hours at a higher rate and not know it.).

Oh, and so far I get pretty good service everywhere my old phone used to cut out (like my apartment). Not that I got a new cell phone to make calls or anything...

Posted by Daniel at 10:31 PM | Comments (0)

Between now and Tuesday, I hope no one needs to get in touch with me. With only 5 days until the primary election, it's crunch time and all the things that the campaigns said they'd do later have to get done. That means lots of work and little rest for me.

The one campaign that I'm most heavily involved with is so completely up in the air right now that it scares me. Really. It's a 5-way race in the Democratic primary and polling shows that right now the winner is "Undecided." That means that we have a chance, but we have to do everything right until the polls close on Tuesday night. I'm going to be running the show until then (checking in with my boss for guidance, of course). While I love having the responsibility, there are people who want answers that I don't have yet. This weekend is going to be spent organizing the Get-Out-The-Vote drive on Tuesday and I don't yet know how many people we'll have helping out. We're still IDing our supporters, so I don't yet know where the resources will need to be allocated. We're still fundraising so I don't know what we'll be able to afford. So things are pretty crazy here at HQ, where I'll be spending most of my waking hours until Tuesday night.

In other news, I had a job interview two days ago. The job is a communications position with SEIU 1199, the union that covers healthcare workers. I would be working on their recruitment campaigns, writing press releases and literature, contacting media, and generally strategizing how to increase membership. The pros for this job are that it pays well and it would be great experience for continuing down the communications track later on. The cons are that it's less focused on government and policy than I'd like. It's really more of a parallel focus, along the same lines as policy communications, but one step removed.

The interview went well, I thought. I'm pretty sure I came across as qualified and competent, and they seemed to like me. The question is whether or not I want the job, should it be offered to me.

If I had to choose right now between a State House Aide job and this position, I'd probably lean toward the aide job, especially if it was for a good legislator who I liked. For example, if the candidate who I'm working for (who I discussed above) wins, I would really want to work for him. The dillemma is that even if he wins the primary on Tuesday he'll have a tough challenge in the general as well, and although SEIU said they can wait for me to start work until after the general election, they probably can't wait for an answer until then. So if Patrick (that's the rep candidate) wins next week and I get offered the job, it would be risky to hold out to see if Patrick wins the general election as well.

But that's a lot of speculation at this point. I don't know if Patrick will win the primary, and I don't know if I'll get offered the job (if both don't happen, then I'll be disappointed). And there will probably be other opportunities poking their heads up over the next month or two anyway.

Posted by Daniel at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)

As some of you already know, life since the move has been a bit challenging. Basically, my girlfriend and my cats are not getting along. The primary issue is discovery of cat allergies. When she came over to my old apartment she thought it was just because I didn't clean often that her eyes got watery and itchy. Turns out even in a relatively clean environment the problem is still there.

She's been pretty miserable in our new place. We've spent the past month trying to figure out if there's a way for everyone to get along and live in harmony, but that seems less and less likely.

So the question I have is, does anybody want to provide a home for two wonderful cats? I'd prefer to be able to give them to someone I know and trust before searching for a stranger. They are both completely up-to-date on shots and got clean bills of health just a month or two ago. They're fixed and have been tested for feline leukemia. They also come with a wide array of supplies, including toys, scratching posts, litter box, food dishes. We're talking a package deal here.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the kitties, they are Max and Frankie. Brother and sister, nearly 3 years old. I got them from a rescue organization in LA about two and a half years ago. They're probably two of the most affectionate cats ever. Max is a complete attention whore and Frankie, though a little shy at first, will curl up on your lap if you sit on the couch. It kills me to have to give them up, but unfortunately I don't really have a choice.

If anyone is interested, or knows someone who might be, send me an email and let me know.

Posted by Daniel at 09:43 AM | Comments (1)

Of course, I picked the hottest possible day to move. Fortunately, with the help of Sara, Dave, Bonnie, Dan, Solomon, and Morgan (and Aliza, of course) we got everything moved in record time.

Well, not quite everything...

You see, my couch, my lovely green couch that I still consider my first grownup purchase... well, we couldn't get it into the apartment. We removed a door from its hinges, we took the feet off the sofa, but there was one corner we just couldn't get around. It's a little sad, but I'm less upset about it than I would have thought. The cats had taken to a couple of the corners and the fabric had gotten a bit torn at one place, so it's not the end of the world. Fortunately, Aliza has a smaller sofa that we brought over and got in just fine.

Speaking of the cats, things are a little rough right now. I waited until yesterday afternoon to bring them over to the new place because we wanted to get as unpacked as possible before adding the kitty element. They were freaked the hell out at first but they seem to have adjusted and are exploring and finding nooks and crannies that they'll sit in for hours on end. They're also very excited to have windows again where they can look out and see the world.

The problem came last night, when they just would not let us sleep. I swear I was awake every hour trying to stop a cat from climbing something in appropriate, clawing something, stepping on my head, stepping on Aliza's head, or just being obnoxious in general. I know this is temporary and that they'll settle down once they're more familiar with the place (it took a few weeks when I moved into my apartment last year before they could relax for the whole night), but I really wan't thrilled about getting up for work this morning (the one day I had to be here at 8am to install phone lines... of course).

I have to applaud Aliza, because I know that living with pets was never at the top of her wish list, and she has been incredibly patient throughout all of this. If she can survive the next week or two without the cats driving her crazy, I think we'll all be okay.

Posted by Daniel at 09:39 AM | Comments (2)

First of all, I can't believe it's been over a year since I arrived in Boston. Of course, it's the usual paradox of it feeling like forever since last summer while simultaneously feeling like it wasn't that long ago that I lived in LA.

And now, I can't believe I'm moving again. This time the move is a bit shorter - 1 mile instead of 3,000 - but it still involves boxing up all my stuff. (Good thing there are a few boxes I never unpacked.)

For those of you who haven't gotten the memo, I'm moving in with my girlfriend! We got a 2-bedroom apartment in Brookline, not far from Washington Square. We had talked about moving in together before I first moved out here last year, but (long story short) I needed to focus on one drastic change at a time. Now, we're tired of having the "who's place do we stay at tonight?" debate, and I'm really looking forward to us being able to come home to one another.

The move is two weeks away, but I've started packing this weekend, since I'll be working during the coming weeks. I've also started listing some of my belongings on craigslist and I already have someone coming over to look at my dining room table and chairs.

The next two weeks should be pretty busy and then of course there's the unpacking to deal with, and by the time we're moved in I'll be swamped with work through the primary election in September.

Posted by Daniel at 05:57 PM | Comments (5)

Yesterday I took a day trip to NY to spend the afternoon hanging out with Jason and Danielle. It was great to be able to see them both and get to hang out in the city.

However, getting up early, driving, walking around in the cold rain, and then driving back to Boston seem to have taken their toll on me and I'm not feeling so hot right now. I'm kind of achy, which is never a good sign.

I'm working at the moment (we're doing a poll right now) but I'll be home in a couple of hours and hopefully I can get some rest tonight and feel better by tomorrow.

Posted by Daniel at 07:09 PM | Comments (1)

Last weekend I went to Atlanta for my dad's 60th birthday. The trip was great. It was very good to spend time with my family and I enjoyed showing Aliza around Atlanta. I also enjoyed eating at Fellini's, Chick-Fil-A, and the Golden Buddha.

Since getting back, I've been swamped by work. My boss and I had a lot of meetings last week with clients and potential clients. This weekend my boss was out of town meeting with one of our out-of-state clients and I've been handling some proposals and other work here.

I've also been enjoying the last days of Aliza's spring break. Unfortunately she has to go back to teaching tomorrow so I'll have to pay attention to my job during the day. I might get around to posting more regularly, too. We'll see.

Posted by Daniel at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)

This past week I've been quite busy, but nothing particularly remarkable has happened so I haven't had anything to post.

Work has been keeping me strangely busy. There has been a lot going on but at times there's not all that much to do (if that makes any sense). My boss, being the boss, has to be the one who makes a lot of the phone calls, so at times I'm waiting around for something to do. We've had a lot of meetings with potential candidates and I have a feeling that within a few weeks things are going to become exceedingly busy.

But in the immediate future, I'm going to Atlanta. Earlier this month my dad turned 60 so this weekend Aliza and I are going to Atlanta to visit my family and celebrate my dad's birthday. It's been a while since I took a trip to Atlanta that didn't involve getting in a car and driving to either Alabama or Florida, so it will be nice to spend a few days there without extra travel time involved.

Posted by Daniel at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)

And no, I'm not talking about the treat from Dairy Queen.

We're in the midst of quite a snowstorm today. I'd say about a foot and a half has fallen so far and though it's letting up it's still coming down. Driving this morning was a treat with visibility around 50 feet or so and the roads just barely plowed before the snow covered them again. When I pulled up next to my apartment and opened the car door, it pushed snow away. I'll also have to start shoveling my steps if I want to be able to get in and out of my apartment later.

But it's otherwise been a relaxing morning. I stayed in bed late and then my girlfriend made pancakes for breakfast. I was scheduled to be working a phone bank tonight, but we've cancelled that so now I just have a nice lazy sunday to enjoy.

Posted by Daniel at 01:43 PM | Comments (0)

I like to pronounce it like a word... like "voyp!"

I got my equipment from SunRocket today and tried to set it up but ran into some snags. After connecting the "gizmo" as it's called to my cable modem and router it was having a difficult time connecting. The internet was working but I couldn't get phone service.

I called tech support and ended up on the phone with someone who was clearly on another continent and who knew less about computers than, well... she didn't know much. When I told her that I was using a Mac and not a Windows system I was put on hold for a few minutes while she tried to figure out what I needed to do instead of go to the command prompt. (I still don't understand what she wanted me to do with my computer... the internet worked fine but the VOIP thingy wasn't connecting.) Anyway, she and I never got the chance to work anything out because while she put me on hold to go figure something out I got disconnected.

At that point I had to leave to go to a job fair, and when mI got home later in the afternoon it still wasn't working. I sent an email to their support describing my problems and then left to volunteer on a state rep campaign in Foxboro. Then, when I got home just now everything works. I haven't done a whole lot of testing but I called my old land line from my VOIP line and it rang, so that's a start. I'll have to make some long-distance calls tommorow to see how it sounds.

Posted by Daniel at 01:08 AM | Comments (0)

I got my new cell phone in the mail today. It's a Sony Ericsson Z520a. So far my experience has been pretty good. Unlike last time when the new/used phone got absolutely no reception within a 3 mile radius of my apartment, this phone works as well, if not a little better than my old one while I'm home. It also has features that my old one didn't have, like voice dialing (good for when I'm wearing gloves), speakerphone (good for when I want to annoy everyone else on the T) and MP3 ring tones (good for amusing myself at the expense of everyone elses' opinion of me). It also has LEDs that light up in a pattern when the phone rings, which would be awesome if I were a teenage girl.

So for the time being it looks like this worked out for the best. Unfortunately I have to mail back my old phone, otherwise I'd probably be able to sell it on Craigslist.

Posted by Daniel at 05:28 PM | Comments (5)

SunRocket, that is.

Yes, I've signed up for VOIP phone service. I'm keeping my regular land line until this one checks out and everything works satisfactorily, but hopefully I'll be able to cancel it within a month or so. I did some research and all of the major VOIP carriers seemed to get the same complaints, so I went this these guys because of their prices. Hopefully the quality will be good enough that I won't regret it. I have heard horror stories about transferring land line numbers to VOIP and how long that process takes, so I may not even go through the hassle of doing it. (Not that many people call me at home anyways, and besides, I like sending out change-of-info mass emails.)

Also in the world of telecommunications, I'm getting a new cell phone. I'd written about how I got insurance for my cell phone a few weeks ago. Well this stupid thing finally pissed me off enough that I called in my insurance policy and they're mailing me a new one. Hopefully it will be enough of an improvement to keep me going until my contract expires and I can switch to Verizon.

Posted by Daniel at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)

I'm now having stress dreams about work, and I don't even have a job. Here's the completely weird one I had last night:

I had been appointed by Bush to the Supreme Court, but only for a 10-year term instead of a life appointment. He only put me in as a token liberal so that he could put in a radical right-winger for a lifetime appointment in another seat. I was a bit concerned that justices don't make public statements and I'd have to hold my tongue and not speak my opinions.

I headed to the dorms where the Supreme Court justices live (because we all know they live in dorms) and on the way I somehow got caught in the middle of a gang war. There was an asian gang that was coming after me because I had somehow wronged them or caused them pain. One guy threw a knife at me that cut my stomach a bit and said I deserved it.

I managed to get away long enough to make it into the dorm where I went to find my room. One of the other justices was an alderman from Somerville, and there were other local political people there as well. The dorm had three floors and my room was one of two on the bottom level. As I went down to unpack my stuff, the asian gang started breaking into the building. There were quite a lot of them, so I and the rest of the people there started running. We climbed out a window onto the yard, thinking that the gang only wanted to take over the building. But they kept coming after us. I ran uphill towards the fence but had a hard time climbing over because the fence was higher than I realized and my arms were sore from going to the gym (I'm not making this up). One of the gang members caught me and then I was hooked up to some brainwashing device so that I would forget all of this and be complacent. I struggled but in the end they won. That's about when I woke up.

So what's it all mean? I think I need a vacation.

Posted by Daniel at 11:24 AM | Comments (5)

I've rediscovered the joy of public libraries!

I went a few days ago and got myself a Boston library card and have since read three books that were on my list ("Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell and "I'll Be Short" and "Locked in the Cabinet" by Robert Reich). These were things I'd been wanting to read but wasn't excited about shelling out $20 each for.

No news on the job front yet. In a little while I'm going to a fundraiser for a state rep candidate that's being hosted by John Kerry. The fundraiser is right next to the state house, so I should be able to do some networking while I'm there. In any case, I'm hoping to hear about the job with the Senator's office tomorrow. I'll post once I hear.

Posted by Daniel at 04:23 PM | Comments (1)

Because what good is a blog if you can't use it for some annual navel-gazing?

2005, for all the hoopla about changes and moving and such, was just what I predicted. I left Hollywood and the movie business to try out Boston and politics. So far so good.

So what's in store for 2006? Well, I turn 26 in a few weeks, which isn't really a difficult prediction to make. I don't think this year will involve as many drastic transitions. Once I get a job (this week, I hope), I'll most likely keep it through the year. And I'm certainly not planning on leaving Boston this year. The changes that I imagine will come will most likely be solidifying ones. I'll get more settled into my life here, into my friendships and relationships. I'll further establish myself in the local political scene and hopefully get a better sense of direction within that framework.

For some reason this New Year doesn't seem to carry the fanfare of the past few. I'm not asking where 2005 went, because this time a year ago seems pretty far back and a heck of a lot has happened in the meantime.

Last year I wrote about how things had been stagnant and I wanted change. Well, I certainly got it and I'm definitely not feeling the same thing this year. I'm excited for what's to come, even though it's still pretty vague. I guess I'm open to whatever the world wants to throw at me.

I hope 2006 is a good one for everybody.

Posted by Daniel at 04:05 PM | Comments (0)

And if anyone out there celebrates it, have a good Kwanzaa as well.

Today I've enjoyed the stereotypical Jewish Christmas: I went to a movie this afternoon and now the Chinese Food is on the way. Of course, I also got to celebrate the first night of Hanukah as well, so I've had some store-made latkes*, lit some candles, and opened a present.

Why store-bought latkes, you ask? Because I had no forethought and forgot to buy potatoes. I searched in vain today for an open grocery store, but the only one I found was a very Jewish market that didn't carry potatoes, only pre-made latkes. They weren't too bad but they really didn't compare to my mother's. Perhaps this week I'll go to the grocery store and actually make them myself.

I hope everyone has had a good holiday!

* Latkes are potato pancakes, a traditional Hanukah dish.

Posted by Daniel at 06:48 PM | Comments (1)

"But Daniel," you say, "I didn't even know you were gone."

Well, I was. Aliza and I went down to NY for a few days. We stayed with her brother and his wife and I got to spend yesterday hanging out around the city with Jason. It was nice to get away from Boston for a couple of days. The weather was a tad bit warmer and the change of scenery was good because I've gotten way too lazy here. Being unemployed has me way too lethargic. Most of my days are spent on the sofa with the TiVo remote in one hand, a magazine in the other, and my computer on my lap. The weather hasn't been too inviting, so going to a park for a while is kind of out.

But now that I've been shaken up - big apple style - I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. Not with a job (even if something comes through soon I doubt I'll be working until after new year's), but actually cleaning my apartment and trying to be a bit more productive all around.

Posted by Daniel at 06:09 PM | Comments (5)

It seems that I am somehow fated to not have a Boston parking permit. The first time I went to get one I managed to forget a necessary document. Then yesterday I went back - you have to go to Boston City Hall to do this, by the way - only to arrive about 3 minutes after closing due to a painfully slow T ride that forced me to change trains because my original one was being taken out of service.

So my question is this - who closes at 4:30? I don't know what a city hall window clerk makes, but they probably get decent benefits. They can't stay open until 5:00 like the rest of the world?

Posted by Daniel at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)

It's been coming down pretty solidly since before I woke up this morning. I'd say there's at least 3" on the ground right now and no end in sight according to the weather forecast.

I kind of wish I had a job to go to, because then I'd get a day off. As it is I just don't feel like going outside.

UPDATE: Okay, this ain't funny anymore. Visibility is currently around 25 feet and it's as heavy as it's been all day.

UPDATE 2: I just finished shoveling my stairs and parking area. The snow has stopped for the time being so I wanted to clear what I could. I upladed a pic of the stairs before I shoveled them. This is the first time I've ever had to shovel snow, believe it or not. It wasn't a concern in Atlanta or LA and we really didn't get a lot of snow the one year of college that I lived off-campus..

Posted by Daniel at 01:55 PM | Comments (1)

Well, after using my new-used phone for a couple of days I think I'm going to go back to my old one. Though I get slightly improved reception when driving and fewer dropped calls, I get absolutely no reception in my apartment, as opposed to the poor reception I got with my old phone. What that means is that I can't even use the forwarding service to transfer incoming calls to my land line.

On the plus side, I should be able to re-sell the phone on craigslist and hopefully break even.

Meanwhile, it's friggin' freezing! Right now it's around 29 degrees and is supposed to hit 17 tonight. We were supposed to get more snow yesterday but it never hit. Now they're saying it'll come Friday or this weekend.

OH! And the best news of the day is that I have an interview! Next Monday I'm meeting with the Chief of Staff of the State Senator that I volunteered for over the summer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will be a quick process (and also that I'll get hired). I still haven't heard any word from other job applications that I sent out.

For now it's back to work on my part-time gig, which is scheduling callers for a political phone survey this Sunday and next week. I've filled about half the slots with responders from a craigslist ad, so not too much more to go.

Posted by Daniel at 05:03 PM | Comments (3)

I finally caved and got myself a new phone. Well, sort of. It's a used phone that I bought off craigslist, but still an improvement. I made a phone call yesterday that only dropped out one time instead of the normal three. So until next year when my contract expires and I can switch to a different carrier, it'll have to do.

Sadly, not a whole lot more to report right now. I'm following up on some of my job applications. Oh! And I have some short-term part-time work assisting a friend of mine who does polling. He needs someone to help organize and manage the phone banks, and it'll be nice to make a little money (not to mention having something to do).

Posted by Daniel at 03:06 PM | Comments (2)

I saw Martin Sheen on Inside the Actor's Studio today (and James Lipton is still creepy as hell, by the way).

Anyways, he recited a poem that I found particularly relevant, so I looked it up. It's by the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore: winner of the Nobel Prize in 1913, friend of Ghandi, and prolific writer.

Where the mind is without fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

In other news, not too much to report. I've applied for a few more jobs and I got a haircut yesterday. Sadly, I think I'm in the wrong month to be job-hunting (and I was hoping to have things settled by now). At this point, even if anything comes through I doubt I'll be working before 2006. So I'd better find myself something to do.

Posted by Daniel at 02:30 PM | Comments (0)

I'm back in Boston after a successful Thanksgiving. I ate more this week than I have over the past month. It was all very good, of course, but I don't forsee many large meals are in my immediate future.

And of course I can't forget to commemorate Aliza's first Thanksgiving in the bible belt. At one point she was informed by my cousin that our feast would feature a cameo by the Klan as they rafted down the Alabama river (this was not, in fact, true). She ate her first collard greens and experienced grits at Waffle House. She also managed to keep her head straight while meeting my many cousins, which is a feat in and of itself.

I also got to see my former roommates Afsheen, Gwen, and Paddington. Unfortunately we were only able to meet for a few hours last night, as I spent much of my time in Alabama.

All in all, it was a great trip. I'm kind of worn out, since we spent so much of the time going from one event to the next, but it was well worth it. And it's not like I have a job right now so I can rest this week (while I hit the job search hardcore).

I took a bunch of pictures that you can see in the gallery. I hope everyone else had a good week as well. I know I owe some phone calls and emails, so I'll work on that over the next few days.

Posted by Daniel at 05:35 PM | Comments (1)

My alarm was set for 4am, as I was expecting the taxi to pick me up between 4:45 and 5:00. Of course, I expected to hit the snooze alarm a few times, but when I looked at the clock and saw 4:36, I was a bit surprised. I jumped up, showered quickly, and called Aliza at 4:45.

That's when the fun began.

You see, I needed my cell charger, which was at her place. I called her land line but it went straight to voice mail. Strange. So I called her cell. After a few rings she picked up, asked me what time it was, and informed me that her power was out and that I'd just woken her up. A glance out the window confirmed that the taxi was, in fact, waiting outside.

Aliza then hung up to rush getting ready (and get my cell charger). Shortly thereafter, my power went out. I was mostly packed, so it wasn't a huge problem. Also, I knew where my flashlight was, so I was able to manage pretty well. I threw my remaining items together and set my bags by the door just as the power came back on. The cab showed up and after a quick double-check that I hadn't forgotten anything, we were off...

... verrrry slowwwwllllyy.

This was, quite possibly, the slowest cab driver I have ever experienced. Aliza and I were discussing our hectic mornings and how we were running late, and the guy was hardly going over 20. I understand that the rain and dark made things a bit treacherous for him, but come on. Even after we got onto the pike, we were being passed on all sides (when the cars could get around us, that is. See, our driver wasn't too keen on lanes...).

Yet we still made it to Logan on time and now I'm here in Atlanta, writing this from my parents' house. The weather here is overcast and chilly, but nice. Oh, and I just ate lunch at Fellini's Pizza. So take that.

Posted by Daniel at 01:59 PM | Comments (5)

I'm heading to the airport in a little under 5 hours, but I'm finally packed and ready to go. The garbage has been taken out. The dishes are done. The apartment's kind of a mess, but I'm not going to stay up to straighten it. If I get to sleep soon then I have almost 4 hours before I have to get up.

Today was exceptionally lazy. I didn't have a whole lot to do to get ready, but I really just spent most of the day on my ass watching TV or playing logic games (my new favorite is sudoku).

Anywho, time for sleep. Next time you hear from me I'll probably be in Georgia!

Posted by Daniel at 12:18 AM | Comments (0)

Today I'm getting ready to travel. I've got laundry to do before I pack and packing to do before Aliza and I get on a plane tomorrow morning and head down south for Thanksgiving.

I'm very excited about the trip. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and it'll be really good to see my family (immediate and extended). For those of you who don't know: I'll be spending the holiday in Alabama with my mother's extended family. We'll be having a big Thanksgiving meal on Thursday in my great aunt and uncle's house in Selma. I wasn't there last year because I spent Thanksgiving in Boston, so I'm excited to see everyone.

Not a whole lot else to report. I may write from Atlanta once I'm there. I'm definitely looking forward to Fellini's pizza (mmm). The last time I was in Atlanta was for about a day in the spring, so it'll be nice to spend a bit longer there.

And now I'm just rambling, so I'm going to go get my clothes out of the laundry.

Posted by Daniel at 09:24 AM | Comments (0)

As many of you know, I have spent the overwhelming portion of my life allergic to dairy products (not lactose intolerant, allergic). As such, cheese pizzas and ice cream have always eluded me. Fortunately, Domino's makes pizza without cheese and since I was young there were soy ice cream substitutes on the market.

But only recently have I discovered a whole new world of yogurt! That's right, at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, there are now soy-based yogurts. Unfortunately, most of them have a consistency resembling Maloxx. But one brand, Stonyfield Farm, has a line that's pretty good.

Now, I can't compare it to real yogurt, but for someone who's always missed out on those little plastic cups of cultured something-or-other with "real fruit" on the bottom, this stuff is pretty darn good.

Posted by Daniel at 04:26 PM | Comments (1)

Part of me wishes that I hadn't learned basic HTML in high school (thanks a lot, Afsheen...). Because now, when I start creating a new page, I spend hours upon hours tinkering with code instead of just using Dreamweaver and being finished with it in a third of the time.

There are two things that make the process slow:
1 - I'm not that great a designer and I'm overly ambitious. Therefore, I want to create masterfully designed pages that are far outside my realm of creativity and graphic design.
2 - My knowledge of code is amateur at best. Therefore I borrow (yes, borrow...) from a variety of sources but don't quite know how to make the pieces fit together.

For the new page I'm trying to work primarily in CSS. There are definite advantages to this, but it's also a new learning curve for someone who grew up in the "table" era. (For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, this probably isn't the most exciting entry.)

I'm working off the basic MT template and trying to do most of my changes to the CSS instead of the HTML. For those interested in seeing just how much one can change on a CSS-enabled page without touching the HTML, check out CSS Zen Garden. The different designs all use the exact same HTML code but with different CSS style sheets.

I don't think I'll work too much on the page this weekend. Tomorrow I'm joining Andy and his friends for a pub crawl of Allston-Brighton's finest drinking establishments. And then Sunday I'm going to be nursing a hangover. But hopefully by mid-late next week I'll have something online for people to check out.

Posted by Daniel at 10:28 PM | Comments (3)

I've been thinking about mixing things up around here in my little blogoverse. First of all, I think it's time for a blog whose URL isn't my full name. I've been thinking about a few things but if anyone has suggestions that are catchy and not too long, leave 'em in the comments.

If I do set up a new site I'll probably phase out thirdwheelfilms.com and this site. And of course a new-site design will be necessary. Fortunately I have no job still, so I can devote countless hours to this new endeavor.

Speaking of the job front - I'm hoping to hear more this week or next. I touched base with the Senator last week and she was interviewing for chief of staff. Once that position is filled she'll be able to focus on the rest of her staff positions.

Posted by Daniel at 03:30 PM | Comments (5)

It's even starting to stick. It won't last long, though. It's supposed to be 60 degrees tomorrow.

Posted by Daniel at 04:06 PM | Comments (5)

It's snowing today.

Seriously.

I haven't seen snow fall in years.

It's not actually heavy at all, nor is it sticking. It's basically a very light flurry, but come on... it's still October! I don't know if I can deal with this whole winter thing.

UPDATE: Now it's actually coming down... this is crazy.

Posted by Daniel at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)

I'm being thwarted in my attempts to celebrate Halloween. First of all, it's on a Monday night this year, which doesn't really matter to unemployed me, but does to most of my employed friends.

I therefore made an effort to throw a party this coming Saturday night. I invited pretty much everyone I know in the Boston area, but it seems that a whole lot of people will be out of town and the majority of the rest have other plans.

Right now it's looking like I'll do something Saturday night with a few friends - maybe go to Salem. But what makes this a real bummer is that I've almost finished putting together a kick-ass Halloween costume!

Something big and exciting may still work out; I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet. And even going to Salem would be okay. I'm just frustrated that the party didn't come together better.

Posted by Daniel at 02:14 PM | Comments (3)

I pretty much gave up on the whole gym thing about a year ago. I'd been going regularly for 2 years but just lost the energy to keep lifting weights. I made a half-hearted effort to find a different exercize program but never came across anything that interested me.

That said, I signed up today for a membership at the local YMCA (sing it with me). The facility near me was built 3 or 4 years ago, so it's in really good condition. They also have a pool and some very exciting group classes (like Capoeira!). So hopefully I'll be able to get back into the habit of going regularly. It's not quite as convenient as my gym in LA that was a mile away and I could run to year-round, but it's close.

Posted by Daniel at 07:04 PM | Comments (6)