Write down 7 things that piss you off, in no particular order, then tag 7 more people.

1. Having someone wake me up by messing with my feet.
2. Being taken for granted.
3. Gaining weight
4. People who will never honestly admit they were wrong and/or never sincerely apologize.
5. Politicians
6. Children who don’t know how to behave in public.
7. People who think that they “know” me and can explain my actions or dictate how I live my life.

And since we’re talking about things that piss me off…

I’m a layman. I’m not an economist. I don’t have a college degree. I’m a self-trained computer programmer who does some acting. I do some reading, on occasion. Most of it fluff, but I’ve read a few books about Important Issues. I listen to Democracy Now! and Rush Limbaugh. I try to keep an open mind, ya know? Get some perspective so I can look at issues objectively.

But at this point I’m amazed at how few people seem to be making the connections that I’m about to make, and I’m honestly wondering if I’m missing something.

Because, from a laymans perspective…

We have a President who came from a family that was largely involved in the oil business. He has a background in the oil business. He comes from a state that is closely tied to the oil business. So he gets into office, right, and we get attacked by terrorists*. Terrorists who, while belonging to an organization based in Afghanistan, mostly came from Saudi Arabia (a country whose leaders are close personal friends with his family). Ok, so we invade and liberate Afghanistan. Cool. Then we turn around and invade Iraq because they have Weapons of Mass Destruction – which it turned out they didn’t have (Best Available Intelligence!). We’re told it was definitely NOT about the oil. If it was, I’ve head the folks like Rush Limbaugh say, why would gas prices be so high?

Well, that’s a good question, really. I guess it’s true. Except…

Well…

There’s the little fact that Exxon Mobil had a net income of $36.1 billion dollars last year. And that was UP 31 percent from last year. Despite hurricanes. Despite high oil prices in the middle east.

And they aren’t the only ones.

“The 12 U.S. oil companies in the S&P 500 that have reported fourth-quarter results have seen an average of a 48 percent rise in earnings excluding items in the period.”

Gas prices are almost as bad right now as they were during the late 70’s and early 80’s. Prices are up across many retailers as a direct result of companies trying to compensate for that. Every “average American” is feeling the pinch of this…except those with lots of money invested in oil companies.

Now…

I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I know that there are huge chunks of data that I’m missing out. I realize there are probably several logical fallacies in my conclusions. But, you know, I’m a little smarter than the average bear. I know what a fallacy is, but this still seems like far too much of a coincidence for me. We have a President who has ties to big oil. We are at war in a region that is the source of most of our oil. Oil companies are posting record profits, while our soldiers are dying and we’re paying nearly $3 bucks a gallon for gas.

Am I missing something?

*I am not blaming the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on the fact that G.W. Bush was elected President – Although there IS data out there that could suggest that such a thing is true. I don’t have enough of that data to make a conclusion one way or the other on that.

Interesting.

So I have this search feature linked off of my main site. It basically indexes the public record of my blog. One of the reasons why I’ve kept the service I have (and don’t have the link pointing to something like the new google blog search) is because I get a report, every week, showing me what has been searched for on my blog. What is fascinating about that is the fact that, more often than not, I find that people are looking for themselves. People who, for one reason or another, no longer actively communicate with me.

Makes me kinda sad. In most cases it would be kinda nice to hear from them.

Ah well.

One night only!

I will be participating in a staged reading of the Steve Patterson (Delusion of Darkness) one-act “Deuces” tomorrow night (January 31st) at 7PM in the Shimberg Playhouse of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

Deuces
by Steve Patterson
Featuring David Frankel, Michael C. McGreevy, Caitlin McDonald and Christen Petitt
Jan. 31, 7pm – Shimberg Playhouse, TBPAC
$5 at the door. Free to Jobsite subscribers.

As part of both TBPAC’s Breaking New Ground series and our own Job-side Projects, we will host a staged reading with a talkback to follow of Steve Patterson’s one-act play Deuces. Set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, join a couple as they play an interestingly high-stake game of cards with a mysterious figure.

Tickets available here

And while I’m shilling…

There are currently two shows running in the Shimberg from the folks at Jobsite. Phyro-Giants! and Topdog/Underdog. I’m probably going to try to check out at least one of them this weekend. Can’t give a review of the shows yet, as I haven’t seen them, but if the casts are any indicators they should be stellar.

Read all about ’em!

The more I clean, the dirtier I realize that the house is….and the more irritable I get.

Maybe I’m just cranky for other reasons. I dunno. What I do know is that right now it’s taking a good deal of self-discipline to not snap at every little thing that is irritating me.

Early Morning Spammy Goodness

So I received the following through email this morning…

From: 8177077741@messaging.sprintpcs.com

The police found a body with no brain, Fucked up teeth, a small Dick, and a swollen asshole. I’m worried. Call me if you are okay

Can’t really figure if it’s just spam, or if someone actually went through all the trouble of sending me an email from the cell phone so that it would be relatively anonymous. I’ve gotten similar things before ON my phone from the LJ text messaging service. In any case, I thought it was kind of amusing. If I’ve really got someone out there who has a bone to pick with me, they need to drop a sack and come out with it.

And my teeth are just fine, thankyouverymuch.

*** Edit *** Heh…the perp has fessed up. Apparently I was supposed to recognize the number. 🙂 Of course, now that I know the source, it makes perfect sense.

Today…

Has been a pretty good day.

Traffic court went REALLY well. Because I had an attorney my case was heard first (I can only assume that, out of sympathy for the fact that attorneys charge by the hour, the courts give you priority), and I was in front of the judge for all of 5 minutes. He asked if we wanted to change my plea, which we did. We pled “No Contest” and asked for Advanced Drivers Instruction. The judge turned to the trooper and asked if that was alright with him, and it was. He then asked to see my insurance card (my other ticket was for no proof of insurance). That being in order, he signed the paperwork and sent me on my way.

Yay!

Now I just have to take a 12 hour driving class.

Boo.

Got to work by about 10, shortly before my co-worker left for the day because of back pain. Boss offered to take me to lunch, and I asked if we could go to Applebee’s so that I could get a Weight Watchers friendly meal. Got the Onion Soup (which still rocks), the Mequite Chicken Salad (good, but a bit dry due to the amount of dressing you get), and the Raspberry Cheesecake (which was incredible). All told, 13 Weight Watchers points for lunch. Considering that I only had a Banana for breakfast, this was quite acceptable. I DID have a few samples at Costco afterwards (the boss wanted to stop by), but I counted a full point for every sample I had. Still have 9 points for the day, and I plan on going for a walk when I get home to get another 3.

Took and posted my “honesty” pictures last night. Sobering, that. I think I was most disturbed by the back pictures. K. insists that the folds I see are loose skin that losing weight isn’t going to help, but to me it just looked like huge rolls of fat. I’m proud of how good I’ve been this week, and I love how there seems to be a big circle of us that are really refocusing and getting inspiration from each other, but it’s still depressing to see that.

I’ve had this…I dunno…dream I guess…Of one day having nudes or semi-nudes taken of me that wouldn’t be…well, gross. Not for any pornographic reasons. Just because I think artful nudes are really cool, and I’d love to be a subject of one, but I’ve never had the kind of body that could pull it off in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Seeing those last night made me realize how far away I am at the moment from having that become a reality.

And before it does, I’m going to have to have surgery to remove the excess skin.

So this is my current goal – To get to 225 pounds. When I do, I’m getting the surgery. I don’t care what I have to do to pay for it, but I’m doing it. When I do, I’ll undoubtedly lose more weight as there is a LOT of excess skin on my body. Once I’ve healed I’ll find out where my weight is and go from there.

But I have to get there first.

419.2/288.6/225

I can do this.

Survey Says…

Ok…so the results are in for the Goth Cruise weight gain.

10.6 pounds.

What’s really scary is that I got back on the ball Monday as opposed to waiting until after my weigh in. God knows how much I actually gained on the cruise.

I’m trying to be ok with it, though. I’ve refocused, and I’ve been doing good this week. I just need to keep it up.

On that note…xanyboi started a meme of sorts to help with his weight gain, and I’m going to do the same. Starting tonight, I’m going to start taking a picture of myself, once a month, in my skivvies (or damn near to them). Something I’m going to post here, under a filter, to keep me honest. These pictures aren’t going to be pretty. No good angles. No editing. Just a straight on of me in all my glory. If you’ve got images in your head of me being a hottie and want to keep them that way, I’d suggest you opt out of this filter.

But I think it’s a good idea. It’s accountability. And something to look forward to. I need little baby step things like this, I think.

*** Edit *** On another note – The meeting I went to tonight marks my 5th anniversary with Weight Watchers. Despite the setbacks of the last few years, I am still 130.6 pounds lower than I was when I started.

That’s something, anyway.