If I'd had my head in the clouds I would have missed it ...

If you see a piece of paper on the street you ahould always pick it up and look at it.



(See it larger to really appreciate it.)

Never say Neverland ...

I was completely all meh about Michael Jackson in life, so I didn't see any reason to change after his death. No, I didn't watch any of the hoopla on TV. But somewhere I stumbled upon this link to Vanity Fair articles about him from 1994-2005 by Maureen Orth. I liked Orth's book Vulgar Favors, about Andrew Cunanen, so I decided to read the articles (every one of them, and they're not at all short) despite my meh-ness about Michael. Oh blerg! I am no longer meh ... more like a bit grossed out. Is it awful to really think someone is probably better off dead?

What year is it again?

I'm not going to say how many years it's been since I paid for a City of Durham yard waste collection sticker. I don't want to embarrass the city by publicly announcing how long it was possible to go on getting my leaves and shrub trimmings picked up without paying for it. Apparently the city is now cracking down, however. Tuesday I found a little notice sticking out the top of my still-full bin that said my yard waste wasn't picked up because my sticker is expired. (Way, way, way expired, to be exact.)

Fine, I've had so many years of free pick-up that I suppose I'm getting a bargain for my $60 fee at this point. And the alternative would be to buy a chipper and then spend a bunch of my yard-work time running everything through it and then buying or building a bigger compost bin to accommodate it all. Meh. I'll give the city some money.

The little notice instructed me to call a phone number (which happens to be the Durham One-Call number), but I figure this must be something I could take care of online. I mean, how hard would it be for me to fill out a web form, have the fee either billed to a credit card or added to my water bill, and then receive my cart sticker in the mail? Well, apparently the City of Durham thinks it's still 1990, because my options are a) Print a PDF form off of the web site, fill it out, fax it back and then wait to see what happens or b) Call Durham One-Call and talk to a person, who possibly may hook me up with a yard waste sticker or, if my previous experiences with the City of Durham are any guide, will probably tell me to go to the web site, download the form, fill it out, fax it and wait.

To test my hypothesis,I'm calling the number right now ...


... wait for it ...


I am correct!! If you call the number and ask to order a yard waste sticker, the nice lady tells you to go to the web site, print the form, and fax it in. You can't see me but I'm rolling my eyes. Oh Durham, you're such a hopeless dork.

But what if I don't want a damn 95-gallon recycling cart ...

So the City of Durham is going to deliver 95-gallon recycling carts to everyone and make us use them whether we need them or not. Don't get me wrong, I obey the law and recycle what it tells me to, not that I think doing so actually saves the world or anything, but I do it. I'm a relatively obedient citizen. But I don't even generate enough recyclables in two weeks to fill up my existing little 18-gallon blue bin, so what the fuck do I want a 95-gallon cart for? Could you at least let me fill it with all these excess yogurt tubs I've accumulated? NO? Bastards.

Forgot to mention ...

I named my new dog Talladega. My friend Ryan calls her "Charlotte Motor Speedway." He's got the right idea ... I'm hoping she'll be fast. I call her "Tally," which turns out to be an excellent call name.

My favorite bit of Durham ruined by assholes ...

Brontosaurus Damaged by Vandalism
Originally uploaded by Museum of Life + Science.

Someone has ruined a Durham landmark forever. The old brontosaurus at the Museum of Life and Science has been decapitated. This makes me incredibly sad and horribly angry at the same time. You can read more here.

Grrrrr...

Something came over me ...

I got a new dog. Well, I'm pretty sure I did, at least, The rescue group will take her back no questions asked if I decide she's not the dog I'm looking for, but I'm pretty sure she is, unless I find out she has congenital knee, hip or elbow problems. She's a cutie. Look:



I wrote more about it all over at my other blog. The important point is I can't think of what to name her. I came up with four names: Caprica Six, Miss Demeanor, Alabama and She-Ra, Princess of Power. But I haven't been able to pick one. Then a co-worker suggested Eileen, which is funny ("Come on, Eileen!") and another co-worker suggested Talladega, which is a hell of a good name for an agility dog. But I still can't decide. You can tell me what you think by taking my stupid survey.