SwampLog 3.0

Well, Fuck.

When re-starting the TypePad version of SwampLog, I had a few blogs that I linked to that I needed to check. Make sure they hadn't fallen off the face of the planet. One of those was 'May I Be Frank,' written by Emma Candy, a woman undergoing treatment for cancer in England.

Emma died in February.

Her death hits me hard for two reasons. First, I always feel guilty when someone else doesn't beat cancer. Mine was detected early, and I was able to fight it aggresively. Emma didn't have that luxury, and she deserved it. No one deserves to have to go through that, dying by degrees.

Secondly, it took months before I found out, because I let her blog fall off my radar. I didn't know her at all -- I didn't even comment on her blog -- yet I feel like I should have been more attentive. She was putting EVERYTHING out there for everyone to see, and I wasn't around to see it.

Her blog is still online. You should read it from start to finish. It's Emma's legacy, and her voice deserves to be heard.

Damn.

He doesn't post anything for months -- MONTHS! -- and yet he makes sure I know what it felt like to sell beer at a ball park. I am entirely green with envy. Good on ya, M.

Friday Five: 19 December 2003

1. List your five favorite beverages.
Celis Pale Ale, Starbucks' Caramel Frappucino, Sierra Mist, Bawls guarana soda, Maker's Mark.

2. List your five favorite websites.
As The Apple Turns, Homestar Runner, FARK, Movie Poop Shoot, ESPN's Daily Quickie.

3. List your five favorite snack foods.
Tortilla chips and salsa, Fig Newtons, Pirolines, queso tots, Ritz crackers

4. List your five favorite board and/or card games.
Monopoly, spades, Scrabble, poker, Cranium.

5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games.
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, Star Wars: Rogue Leader, NFL Fever 2004, You Don't Know Jack (any volume), Burning Monkey Solitare.

Friday Five: 12 December 2003

1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays?
I would enjoy it more if it actually occured. Texas cold weather is sparse, and usually nasty. The archetypical "white Christmas" isn't all that common at all. Besides, the weather changes so nastily these days that a 35-degree F day can be followed 48 hours later by a 65-degree F day.

2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect?
Carolling Christmas Eve, then presents on Christmas morning. Margarita brunch instead of the "traditional" Chirstmas meal.

3. Do you do have any holiday traditions?
Getting the Three Amigos together following the Christmas family whatnot at a local tavern, going over the State of the Amigos.

4. Do you do anything to help the needy?
When I can, I donate to the Salvation Army and the Hunger Project. I haven't had the resources to help anyone in the last couple of years.

5. What one gift would you like for yourself?
Stability.

Seventh Heaven (For the Lack of Five)

Since there was no FridayFive this week (hey, I know I forgot to look, but they didn't publish one this week, so I'm semi-off the hook), I went looking through Globe of Blogs' list of blog memes. Here's one, Seventh Heaven, that looks promising. Soooo...

01. Best teen (about 15-16) birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater, house party, catered in a hall, restaurant, family trip, concert?
As much as I would like to say it's a house party, the best one would likely be at a movie theater.

02. What are/were your 15-16 year old parties like?
In a precursor to Devinukah, the sixteenth birthday bash was a combo house party / movie theater outing. Went to go see 'Running Scared' at the Red Bird I-IV after swimming and food at my grandparents'.

03. Best 18th birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater, house party, catered in a hall, restaurant, family trip, concert, club/pool hall, college party?
Ceramics? Yeah, right. House party.

04. If you are 18 what was your party like?
I really have no recollection of my 18th birthday. I was married then, but don't remember what we did for my birthday.

05. Best 21st birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater, house party, catered in a hall, restraunt, family trip, concert, club/pool hall, college party, bar, atlantic city/las vegas trip
Vegas, baby! Vegas!

06. What are your top three priorities?
Happiness, friendship, baseball.

07. What is your favorite smell?
When walking into the Ballpark in Arlington for the first time in April, and there's a mix of freshly cut grass, hot dogs, beer, and promise.

Missing

One of the participants of last year's Blogathon, Persa Zula, has been missing for three days. Her family thinks she may have run away from home, but have no idea where she has gone. They've put up a page with her photo, description, and a plea for anyone with information to let Persa know that she is loved and needed back home.

Friday Five: 28 November 2003

1. Do you like to shop? Why or why not?
I'm not one of those guys that is allergic to shopping. There are "walk around and look at everything" moods, there are "get in, get out, drive off" moods.

2. What was the last thing you purchased?
A novel at Half Price Books (Star Wars: Agent of Chaos I).

3. Do you prefer shopping online or at an actual store? Why?
Depends on my mood. Shopping online lends itself more to impulse buying. If I don't know exactly what I'm buying as a gift, brick-and-morter stores are best.

4. Did you get an allowance as a child? How much was it?
I got $10 a week until I got a job at age 14.

5. What was the last thing you regret purchasing?
Texas Rangers season tickets (weekend plan) in February. Two months later, I was working at Front Row, negating my purchase.

Friday Five: 21 November 2003

1. List five things you'd like to accomplish by the end of the year.
Find a job -- a single job -- where I don't have to continually worry if I'll be employed there in the coming week;
Get my financial house in order;
Hang the remainder of my art in the house;
Re-design DevinAndMarty.com;
Figure out What's Eating Devin Pike?

2. List five people you've lost contact with that you'd like to hear from again.
Mike Reynolds; Keith Black; Jay Johnson; Shannon Bradford; Chaline Strickland.

3. List five things you'd like to learn how to do.
Practice office politics; play poker with the big boys; bartend; write code; love.

4. List five things you'd do if you won the lottery (no limit).
Buy off a rooftop for a Wrigley Field day game and fly in my friends to attend; visit Australia; buy a small house and a Mini Cooper; invest the remainder so I would never have to do anything else except write; "two chicks at the same time."

5. List five things you do that help you relax.
Write; drive; people watch; listen to jazz; play drums.

Some Call Me...

Yesterday, being productive and all that, I was in the midst of getting all of the laundry done and cleaning my room. That's when the stomach cramps started.

In the space of an hour, I went from feeling fine, to doubling over in pain and running fever. Went straight to bed, took some NyQuil and drank a bottle or two of Gatorade (thanks for coming through with that, Marty) and this morning, everything's seemingly fine. No idea if it was a 12-hour bug, food poisoning (day-old refrigerated wings shouldn't be this damaging), or what. I'll march on.

There have been rumblings in the Save Farscape camp for about a week now that there was finally movement on the show. Turns out they were right -- David Kemper and his intrepid band of magicians are working on producing a four-hour miniseries to wrap up the show's storyline.

Though the campaign to resurrect 'Farscape' from the dead was really quite astonishing, I wonder if it really had an impact on the outcome of the show? I would like to hope it played a part, but knowing the disdain in which network executives hold their viewers, I have my doubts.

I know every blogger and their aunt has linked to this Washington Post story about how blogging isn't as cool as it used to be, but I link to it for two reasons. One, the reason I started blogging wasn't to show people what news links I was hitting and disseminate little-known information. I picked up the habit because I needed to start writing again and blogging was the best way to do it.

Secondly, though I can get snarky from time to time, I have no illusions that my opinion is more or less valid than anyone else's. Just because you have a blog doesn't mean you automatically have a superiority complex.

Elsewhere, can someone tell me what planet Jack Nicholson lives on? Has the man just bought into his own hype so damned much that he feels that he is separated from humanity? Exhibit A: Nicholson blasts AIDS as "hype."

Finally, today's net meme tells me I'm The Enthusiast:

free enneagram test

Friday Five: 14 November 2003

1. Using one adjective, describe your current living space.
Unique.

2. Using two adjectives, describe your current employer.
Non-existant, future.

3. Using three adjectives, describe your favorite hobby/pasttime.
Challenging, invigorating, frustrating.

4. Using four adjectives, describe your typical day.
Relaxed, frustrating, promising, evolutionary.

5. Using five adjectives, describe your ideal life.
Productive, mirthful, energized, affectionate, complete.