Here and There

A certain person from my past recently “friended” me on Facebook. This came after a steady stream of Southwest High (Fort Worth) alumnus had been contacting me, and it had actually been a pleasant experience — catching up, reminiscing, whatnot.

But this person came along and posed a challenge. Gee, the last thing I remember about them was how, sprinkled throughout high school, they taunted me and threatened to beat me up.

It’s really hilarious now. If it had come to blows, I would’ve been okay, maybe got roughed up a bit, but probably dealt equal damage to my adversary. I wasn’t scared of this person, more like just annoyed. The thing was, I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t like me. It was a bit like the cantina scene in Star Wars, only Obi Wan wasn’t there to slice this person’s arm off.

We had been friends in middle school, up until about seventh grade, when he quit skateboarding and became “preppy,” ditching me and other friends. And for what, I’m not exactly sure.

But those were the days of defined interests and cliques. Yeah, they still exist today, but I guess we’ve all grown up.

Still, this person’s sudden emergence on Facebook posed a dilemma for me. I don’t wish evil upon too many people, but still, I wasn’t quite sure friend + this person went together very well.

In the end, I accepted, and will treat this “friendship” as a possible means of healing that past rift. I don’t expect miracles. But maybe he’ll prod through my Facebook profile and realize I’m not that big an asshole. Maybe he’s calmed his shit down.

Believe in redemption.

Drinking with wild abandon, of course.

I didn’t use a computer at all yesterday (that post came from iPhone). That, in itself, is a feat of strength.

So here’s how it all shakes out: Full-timers work two more weeks then get a two-week severance on top of that. Us contractors work the full four weeks. I’m there until December 5. I have permission to use my time there to look for new work and go on interviews, should I be so lucky.

All in all, it’s a very humane letting-go. I thanked our editor-in-chief for these provisions, and proceeded to join nearly the entire staff at a nearby bar. Then a splinter group of us, including two-thirds of the Copy Desk and both of us who got canned, headed to North Beach.

Why am I chronicling all this in a decidedly non-personal forum? I need a job, of course. Are you hiring?

(For the record, the unofficial tally put the layoffs at above 30 percent, not the 25 reported by SFist.)

Thank you, greedy blood-sucking assholes. Your brilliant scheme has sunk this ship.

Layoffs at wired.com today. I wasn’t spared.

How we went from a housing boom to this astounds me and makes my blood boil, frankly.

Last night, a lot of people saw me cry for the first time.

Yes, this is a personal post. I’m going to get personal, and tell you about how I feel.

Maybe it’s because when I got to work today, my hard drive was fried. Getting a new machine set up has been, and I’m sure will continue to be, a pain in the ass. Bookmarks, passwords … I need to be backing that shit up. I know that. It’s like when you find out you have a cavity, mostly because you slacked on flossing. Totally your fault for being a dumb ass. But that realization doesn’t really help.

Maybe it was learning Gida puked all over my bedroom after I was already here at work.

Whatever it is, I have no appetite, and I just can’t bring myself to give a shit about the political world right now. Even my candidate, Obama, isn’t raising my spirits. He’s not doing anything wrong, just not cheering me up.

There’s a retarded back and forth going on (when isn’t there?) about who brought up William Ayres first. These people don’t deserve the spotlight anymore when it’s come to this. The world deserves better.

Current mood: :|

Here and There turned 3 at the beginning of July. It must hate me now, having forgot its birthday and all. Seems it’s not the first time I’ve forgotten. The cure next year, and every year hence? Google Calendar.

The last year has by far been Here and There’s busiest. To date, there are 1,557 posts, and only 1,119 spam comments! Go spam filters! You’ve served me well. 538 legit comments have made it through, after all.

Traffic spiked during the Democratic Presidential Primaries. I still can’t find a source of absolutely spot-on stats-collecting, but it’s safe to say that May 2008 was the blog’s busiest month. I miss Hillary Clinton. Okay, not really.

This year, I’ve blogged from my iPod Touch, and, more recently, from my new iPhone. I’ve really begun using MarsEdit in earnest, as its developer, Daniel Jalkut, has done a superb job keeping it the best blog client out there. Also, WordPress has stepped things up remarkably, with its latest iteration, version 2.6.

Anyway, sorry little Here and There. I promise never to forget another birthday. Plus, look at it this way: This kind of fuck-up can only build character.

God, I almost think they should be bound to keep it up.

I’m a borderline OCD sufferer, sure. But I realize how dependent I’ve become on certain blogs when their keepers go on vacation.

Case in point: Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish, perhaps my favorite for the moment. Sullivan, like most responsible bloggers, has left his baby in good, trusted hands. But it’s just not the same.

I’m not totally in love with Craig Crawford’s Trail Mix, but he’s got that damn photo of himself in a hammock up while his minions simply post open threads on a daily basis. Fine. Rub it in, Craig and Co.

I’m not always appreciative of the amazing Jason Kottke’s choice of substitute. The exception would be the last time he went away (can’t find that person’s name, and am in a hurry to pack bags and get out of here).

But yeah. That’s all. And not that I have any fans or devotees on this level, but here I am bailing out for a little more than a day. Don’t miss me.

I did a search for the application, and went to its page. It said I had already added, so I navigated to the application from there, and everything seems to work again. It’s even showing up on the left under my applications.

But then I went back to my main Facebook page, and it disappeared again. I tried the search trick once again, and it wasn’t coming up. Then suddenly, it was.

I can breathe again.

Geez, Scrabs, you’re acting more bipolar than my next-door neighbor. Thanks for the scare.

From teh OMG WTF? Deptartment:

For a few minutes, it was still showing up under my applications. Now, it’s gone. I’ve logged out and back in, and nada.

Halp!

Not sure what it is, but I’m down on the election today. There’s plenty of “news” out to sway me either way, I suppose, and maybe the negatives win the day today.

I feel the need for a superdelegate to endorse somewhat like I used to need a cigarette. I.e., badly.

Wouldn’t it be sweet?

Had to repost this brilliant item from Jodi Lipper and Cerina Vincent at HuffPo: “Where Mayo Goes to Hide“

Had some last-minute canvassing to do this morning — had a list of pledged Obama supporters, names, phone numbers, addresses. I was tasked with delivering door-hangers with polling information.

Man, I thought, how am I gonna get all those addresses into a format I can use? And what technology? I don’t have a printer, so wtf?

It occurred to me that I could whittle the list down to just addresses in a spreadsheet, then copy that list into an email. Then I could access my email via iPod Touch’s Mail app. Sure enough, it was exactly what I needed. I even managed to sort the list while I was in Excel into an order that made sense on the ground.

Go me!

A friend down there who voted for Bush in both elections told me today he’s voting for Barack Obama in his state’s March 4 primary. He’s no party Republican, but he has been on the more conservative side of things for some time now. He’s just one example of Obama’s broad appeal.

Yet another dollar got stuck in the soda machine here at work today. Someone now owes me either $3 or $4. I think I’ll be charging interest for the pain and distress involved.

To top it all off, I took my bills downstairs to Walgreens, where I was charged $1.02. Besides the outrageous pricing for a can of cola, the cashier wouldn’t give me the $0.02. Argh! Don’t get me started on pennies.

Editing and weeding out photos from a 10-day vacation is a job in itself. I want to call in sick …