The Unfortunate Side-Effects of Being Me
The column (ha, column!) goes up earlier today, due to the fact that I'm sure I won't be able to sneak it in without a bunch of people looking over my shoulder with the worst words you can ask a writer, which are: "What'cha writing?"

Yes, friends have decided to drop by. Another friend wants to come over and do unknown things to me.

I use the word friends very cautiously, because they're more like Dada's friends, and they sort of have a passing interest in me.

The only friends I have except for my brother are either dead or in another continent. The latter I have never even physically met.

Didn't do much yesterday. Stayed up late watching Star Trek, then followed it up with a dose of culture, which, in this case, was that kooky Taiwanese channel.

They were cooking Tiramisu. I never want to eat Tiawanese Tiramisu. Not that it looked bad, it looked pretty much like normal Tiramisu, it's just that it was made in such a wholly impractical manner (like most things Taiwanese) that I'd rather have something more traditionally Taiwanese.

Meanwhile the Arab chef was cooking something involving large chunks of meat. The show's hostess looked on in feigned admiration. Everything is normal on Arabian TV.

I sincerely hope nobody's going to kiss me today. Both friends have a habit of doing so. Geh.

Hmmm... coffee breath... maybe I shouldn't brush my teeth.

On the other hand, God may fling me a present in the form of the much awaited Blonde Back-scrubber or one of her equally welcome associates. Or Rani Mukherjee.

Hell, I'll settle for anything right now. Who says birthdays are about what you want?

V
Achievements:
Nil. So Far.

Also-Rans:
Formulating devious plans about how to get out of kisses and other social stuff.


Entertainment
Star Trek, TOS, The Enemy Within (All in all, Shatner is nowhere as bad an actor as people say he is. Tom Cruise acts exactly the same way and people fawn all over him.)

Prayer of the Day:
Lord, give us this day our finished flash portfolio (again)... and no kisses!!

Nil Day
This is how it starts. Today is a Nil day, which means that since I woke up until now (7 p.m.) I have done nothing worthwhile. I actually logged more sleeping hours during this day than anything else.

Still, the night is young, and though it will technically encroach on tomorrow I still mark days as the times between long sleeps.

Sent out two versions of the letterhead Dolly wanted. Haven't heard from her yet, but she usually calls right about now. The rest of the night will be spent completing her portfolio. It's the eleventh hour, but by my track record that's the perfect time to do things. I really need to change this eleventh hour stuff. It's getting to be a habit.

Actually read a newspaper today. Nothing much changed since the last time I read a newspaper over a year ago. Same stuff, really. Shame I've been reared on comic books wherein every headline was either an earthshattering discovery of alien life or a picture of a flying guy in spandex doing something violent to the side of a building.


...you know, that last line came out kinkier than I thought. I'm improving.

And I'm just totally blank-expressioned about tomorrow. What a way to enter a new decade of your life, huh?

V
Achievements:
Nil.

Also-Rans:
Nil, unless you count consistently posting to a blog for two days in a row an actual achievement.

Entertainment
Star Trek, TOS, Mudd's Women (For rich lithium miners, these people sure live like slobs)

Prayer of the Day:
Lord, give us this day our finished flash portfolio... and cheese!

Phule
Odd, it is, that I start this blog on April fool's day. Rather fitting, I suppose.

You would suppose that, with a war on just a few hundred miles away, I'd have something to say about it, but I don't. It seems even less interesting than the last one; at least back then I had little plastic toy soldiers. Back then I could pretend that, GI Joe style, all the good men with the red lasers were going to go in and do that thing they did with all the evil men with blue lasers, the thing where they shoot but don't kill anyone.

Nobody dies in GI Joe. Well, unless the plot expressly demands it, and even then it's usually due to some horribly vague internal disease.

Not sure which world I prefer...

This blog was started expressly because I didn't like the last one; it was full of long gaps, lots of unfinished things I'd rather not be reminded of, and in general made me sound pretty inept.

I need a restart. Again. Hence the title. This will serve as the (hopefully) daily repository of my thoughts, my deeds, my renowned sex-life. You know.

I'll editorialise. A lot. I won't use profanity, not the regular variety at least, because regular profanity is tedious.

And I will end every column with one of these, to summarise what I did in the day that I consider soemthing worthwhile. If I don't do anything, the following will say "nil" and I'll feel very bad about myself for being a lazy petri-dish swilling yak herder and bingo impressario.

There, I told you; profanity, but not the usual stuff. And that's it for today.

V
Achievements:
Thumbnailed a few letterhead things for Dolly's Portfolio
Character Sketches for the way overdue Spyder Birthday Present (I'm still not sure what to do)

Also-Rans:
Put together a pizza.
Made a fine desert of cake, banana, peaches and vanilla ice-cream. In retrospect, it weighed more than the pizza.

Entertainment
Star Trek, TOS, The Corbomite Maneuver (Clint Howard!!!)
Sandman comics (something about cats; pretty good)
Diamonds Are Forever ("Hi, I'm Plenty." "But of course you are")


Conundrum of the Day:
What on earth am I going to cook for lunch tomorrow?