SwampLog 3.0

New Digs

When Marty and I moved in together in 2002, one of the jokes from friends was we needed to have some sort of webcam set up to chronicle our misadventures together. We took that a step further, and built a whole web site around the concept.

DevinAndMarty.com has been a fun portal -- even if it was mostly me updating the site, since Marty was working his ass off ninety percent of the time. We've screwed around with developing techology and methods of infiltrating your personal space and sucking up valuable time, such as the SwampLog and DAMradio.

It's time to bring the rest of our friends into the fold.

As of Monday, January 9, I'm happy to announce the launch of TheAmigos.net. It's a place where anyone who has the misfortune to be associated with us can pimp out their lives, display their work, moan about life, or gloat about their achievements. Each of the Amigos will have their own corner of the site, and all will be able to make entries on El Blog de Los Amigos.

We'll likely keep DaM.com up for a while, but all of the content will migrate over to TheAmigos.net in the next week or so. in the meantime, if you subscribe to the feed for SwampLog, you should now subscribe to the RSS feed of El Blog using this here link.

I'm still screwing with a lot of the settings of the site, so if a link doesn't work right away, rest assured we're on it.

See you at the new address.

This Week's Weird Dream

(My dreams tend to run into one another through the night, so there was likely something before this part.)

I was DJ-ing at a downtown Dallas nightclub. Dimly lit, with a small dance floor and a lot of tables. I was playing Eighties music, and couldn't fin the record I wanted. So, I put on "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" by the Human League, and went out to my car. The manager (generic club guy) told me not to go out there, because there was a race riot brewing. I pish-poshed him, and went out.

My car was parked three blocks away. As I walked to it, I saw crowds gathering at each intersection, blocking traffic and screaming at each other. I got to my car (the white Mitsubishi Mirage that I used to drive), and started looking around in the back seat for a record.

This girl and her friends, who say they love my stuff, ask me for something free. All I have are some beads, which I have draped around the headrest of the driver's seat. I tell her, coyly, "C'mon, you know how that works." She sighs, and flashes me. She's fairly small-chested, and isn't embarrassed by it. I give her the beads, she smiles, and her friends leave.

I don't find the record I want, and head back to the bar, stopping first in another tavern along the way. I need a drink, if I'm going to finish out this night. The bartender hands me a 16-ounce tallboy of some kind of domestic beer, and I guzzle it down. As I'm getting ready to leave, the bouncer from my club comes to get me. "That song's been over for ten minutes, dude. Let's go."

I get back, and there's a crowd waiting by the dance floor. Silent. Glaring. They didn't say it, but I knew they needed to hear something to reduce whatever tension was brewing on the streets outside.

I put on "Thank Ewe (Falettin' Me Be Mice Elf)" by Sly & the Family Stone. This makes most of the people happy, and some of them start dancing. But one older white guy comes up and starts bitching at me. "When are you going to play the real music? You know, good rock and roll, not this jungle bunny stuff? Traitor."

I don't know what happens next because at this point, Edison starts yelling at me to get up.

Konnichiwa, Bitches!

Happy New Year. Really. Honest.

2005: The Year In Meme

LiveJournal poster fierceflawless brings you these questions:

01. what did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
Sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a professional sporting event. Proposed on a first date. Rode a roller coaster in top of a Las Vegas skyscraper. Wrote a book.

02. did you keep your new years' resolutions, & will you make more for next year?
I didn't make any for 2005. I only resolve to continue to grow as a person, and try to earn Amanda's love for me.

03. did anyone close to you give birth?
Victor & Tonya Brilon just had a gorgeous son. That's as close as the stork got to me.

04. did anyone close to you die?
No, thank Bog.

05. what countries did you visit?
I didn't make it out of the confines of the U.S. this year. I did go to California and Nevada, which are like their own countries...

Ticking Like This!

Since I'm going for the record number of posts today, allow me to be one of the first to welcome Joshua McLain Brilon into the world.

I worked with Joshua's dad, Victor, at AnywhereYouGo.com -- he's one of the smartest, funniest people I know. He'll make a wonderful father.

Joshua was born Monday, 26 December. The boyo and the first-time parents are all doing fine. Congratulations.

Strongly Disagree to Agree

Another personality test.  I guess I just long for the days of my youth, when I got tested like this on a monthly basis.

What Are The Odds?

A tipster was Googling me yesterday, and let me know that someone had gone on "My Porn Name," and had come up with Devin Pike as a viable replacement. (The aforementioned site is here, but has VERY NSFW ads on it. You have been warned.)

So, I tried to use it, and it told me that MY porn star name was... Devin Pike.

The implications make my brain hurt.

One Clear Moment

So, how was your ChristmaChanuKwaanziVus?

Mine was phenomenal, thanks.

If the first two holidays spent with Amanda are any indication, we're going to have an amazing life together. (Yes, I know, the "new relationship" smell is still there. Buzz off.) I haven't had a more amazing Christmas, ever. Yes, it was harried, but a lot of that was due to our ridiculous schedules leading up to the holiday weekend.

She also had to work Christmas Day, which unfortunately is par for the course -- she's a microbiologist, and virii know no holiday. Now I know what people who dated me in the past had to go through, as I dropped her off at work knowing it would be late Christmas night before seeing her again.

As for the loot, it was the first year I've earned enough to give as good as I got. The centerpiece of her gift pile was the 'Buffy, The Vampire Slayer' box set. A bit of the mystery was taken out of the gift, because I had to keep her from buying it in late November when she saw it. The "no buying anything" moratorium wasn't in effect, and when she saw it, I had to spill the secret.

My big gift? A little background.

While going to New York for a job interview in the late '80s, I was flipping through one of the ever-present Hammacher Schlemmer catalogs in the seatback pocket, and came across the most wonderful thing ever -- a toaster that made perfect hot dogs. You put two franks and two buns in their own pockets, press the button, and voila! I wanted one soooooo bad, but had no cash or credit cards.

Over the years, I quested. When I would run across it, I would never have the cash to make the purchase, and if I had the money and went back to that store, the things would be gone. Half my life, I've wanted this damned hot dog machine.

I must have told Amanda this story, because I opened this gift on Christmas morning. Squealing like a little girl. Holding it close to my chest. It was my Red Rider BB gun, my Easy-Bake Oven, my Mystery Date board game. It was the gift I always wanted, and Amanda got it for me.

We had a few friends over last night, for no other reason than to buy a couple of cases of beer and enjoy each other's company. At one point, Amanda sat down next to me, grabbed the back of my head, and kissed me. It was like every sigh of contentment I've ever had, distilled into one clear moment. Gods, I love her.

Continuity in Customs

Amanda's working today, Marty's in Los Angeles, and I'm watching the Cowboys play the Panthers to try and stay alive in the playoff hunt.

I feel like I need to talk about my Christmas memories, but they're so damned scattered it's hard to.

Growing up in North Texas, the iconic Christmas elements are seldom there. It's not snowing, it's not even all that cold, and the traffic is unbearable around malls (and really anywhere, as people try to get from place to place while avoiding everyone else).

Growing up, I spent Christmas Day at my grandparents house. The same tree, festooned with ornaments accumulated over three decades was in precisely the same spot year after year, with presents for everyone in the family piled underneath. The family would show up incrementally, with an aunt and uncle arriving from San Antonio, cousins pulling in from across town, a new addition to the family sheepishly trying to blend in.

At its height in the early 80s, there were over two dozen people at the house in DeSoto, crowded around the large dining room table and sitting in the living room in card tables at TV trays. The food was traditional fare -- ham, turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, and an array of vegetables. Being a fussy eater, I tolerated some of it but avoided most. I just wanted to get to the presents.

There are three presents I remember most fondly from childhood -- a 'Battlestar: Galactica' Warrior's jacket, replete with the big metal fasteners in the front and starpoint insignia on the lapels; a copy of Carl Sagan's 'Cosmos,' the companion book to the landmark PBS series; and an Evel Knievel stunt bike playset.

Later in life, I would go to the family gathering sporadically, as I was mostly working on Christmas at radio or in clubs. I spent some Christmas Eves with whomever I was dating that year. Those were special times for me as well, and yet something was missing from all of them.

While I was trying to distance from the traditions my family had, I really got away from what made Christmas so special for me in my youth. The traditions were what made those days so special, and I wish I hadn't waited so long to realize it.

This year, Amanda and I will be at her parents' house tonight to open most of the presents, and on Christmas Day, we'll head out to Carrollton to my aunt Scoot's house for an early dinner.

We're already talking about next year, when we'll start our own traditions.

Happy Christmas, everyone.

Overheard

M: Donde esta podcast?
D: Uploading. It's 61 MB, because you wouldn't let me compress it any further.
M: 61 meg? Dude, I could shit 61 meg.
D: Maybe so, but at 12k a second, it'll take a while... What are you doing?
M: [wiggles in office chair] Ahhhh... I just shat out a 12 megger.
D: [shakes head] I am so glad I don't use your chair.
M: I'm squishin' a floppy.
D: You'd better be glad I'm not in the mood to post this.
M: I think you should.
D: [cracks knuckles] You asked for it.