For those of you that have seen the film Collateral, do you remember thebeginning of the film where Jamie Foxx picks up Jada Pinkett? He told her that he goes on vacation about twelve times a day. He had a picture of abeautiful tropic island in the sun visor on the driver's side. Anytime he felt bad or needed to escape for a couple of minutes, he would look at the picture and dream. I do the same thing as well. I usually go with shots of Los Angeles or New York or Reno. Maybe, if I can get it, a little Van Gogh.

So I segue into my visit to the High Museum. The Pook and I caught the last day of an African gold-Egyptian art exhibit. Very interesting. You see, the Egyptians believe that you can take it with you after you die. So they had food, tools and even heads put with them in their graves. I saw rings from kings and cloth and lots of cool figurines. It was the first time I been to the High in three years. They're adding more on to it, too. Where does Van Gogh come in, you ask? His paintings will be there next month.

I am getting weary about living in the suburbs. I'm Atlanta born and bredand always believe that people fled to the suburbs because they're pussies. In my particular case, I chose weary I'm living because it's a 10 minute drive to work without have to deal with I-285. I have to get back into Atlanta proper if for no other reason that for the public transportation. I need to have easy access to the parks and all the other things that make Atlanta great. That is, before they get taken away.


For example, let's talk about Rich's. Macy's bought Rich's awhile back. Now, it's been announced that Macy's will now drop the Rich's name. As a native Atlantan, I think that sucks. New Yorkers would be pissed if the Macy's name was dropped. Rich's has always been a dependable department store over the years. If nothing else, my best memories of Rich's are goingto the top of the downtown building during Xmas time and looking at theGreat Tree. You paid 50 cents and drive the Pink Pig all across therooftop. Then, if your mom would let you, you would visiting the petting zoo and play with the chicken and goats. You have to be an Atlanta native to know about that. I think that the beginning of the end was when Rich's sold the downtown building to the feds for office spaces. Then years later,Macy's bought Rich's and the nails begin to go into the coffin. Rich's location that have been around for decades close. Now this. Oh well, what can you do except hold on to the memories?

It's a rainy day here in "The City Too Busy To Hate" today. Thanks to Hurricane Ivan, I'm going to be using an umbrella for a couple of days. Today is the type of day where you just crawl under the covers and read abook with a bowl of soup. Or take a nap. I'm just as worn out as the weather. Nothing that a couple of hours sleep can't cure. Maybe the sirens from the tornado watch will lull me to sleep.There is a part of me that likes the rain, especially if I'm depressed or defiant. If I'm depressed, walking in the rain is sort of soothing. It's like, over the course of a few minutes, that I'm totally oblivious to it.It's like being in your own zone and finding a bit of peace. In my defiant moments, I walk out into the storm, usually during the unfortunate times where I'm forced to take public transportation. I'm not known for my patience anyway, so I'm not going to wait until the rain stops. I walk right out into the rain, refusing to let the elements stop me from getting to my destination. That's normally, mind you. I don't think I'll be doing that today.

As I look at the radar of the metro Atlanta radio, the rain is getting moreand more intense. Parts of I-285 are at a stand still. We've got down powerlines in lots of areas around the city. The Pook stated that the televisionmeteorologists are telling everyone to go home if you can. It's turninginto total chaos. The bucket (slang term for "old car" for the ebonically illiterate) is going to actually BE a bucket because of the leaky roof. Thepower has been flickering on and off at work and home. Not a fit day outfor man or beast. Well, if all else fails, I can float home.

Mick Jagger taught me that war is just a shot away and love is just a kissaway. I don't if it things are that simple. I wish they were. I'm jus ttired and didn't sleep very well. I just wish love was simple and not complicated.

Still watching this thing with Hurricane Ivan. It's going to hit Atlanta and we're going to get rain in buckets and droves. My employer has been in the spotlight. Seems like lots of people in Florida have been getting into fistfights in my employer's locations there for plywood and generators. I can't judge. I've never lived in hurricane country. Georgia only gets tornadoes every now and then. I didn't even feel the one earthquake when I was living in Reno. I know that trying to remain calm is the key. That, and being prepared. I personally can't see how they can live out there when you know that the fury of God via wind and rain will eventually take a shot at your living quarters. It may take me 6 hours to drive to the nearest beach in Savannah, but at least I'm safe. If nothing else, the obessive news coverage of the hurricane keeps us from hearing about that doofus that currently resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Yeah, I called President Dubya a doofus. Kiss my ass if you don't like it.


Ann Coulter always intrigues me. Yes, the woman is a dumb Connecticut blonde. Believe me I know them. I've dated one. I've read Slander, Treason,and her columns. This woman either build these ridiculous straw man fallacies with inaccurate statements. That or she engages in the beat and trite ad hominem attacks. The only reasons the neocons dig her is that she's a blond woman with a short skirt. Whoop. De. Do. Now she's dropping How To Speak Like A Liberal (If You Must) pretty soon. Help us all. Don'tget it twisted. I don't mind if you disagree with me politically (by the way, I consider myself libertarian), but at least have some sort of logical arugment. If you can't make logical arguments, at least be an entertaining conservative. For example, I don't agree with most of Michael Savage's beliefs, but at least he can make a cogent argument. I don't agree with most of Neal Boortz has to say either, but at least he's logical AND entertaining. Ann Coulter is none of that. She just says that "liberals" stink and that's what she has to work on. Nothing factual to back up her claims. She's like a kid in a schoolyard. Or that ditszy blonde in high school. It's always the one that the jocks want to hump over a chair in gym class, but hearing her mindless yammering isn't worth it. Anyway, I'll bomb on her book when it comes out. Should be interesting.


In an unreleated topic, fuck you, Elizabeth.

That's it. Have a nice evening, Atlanta.

Well, all hell broke loose as my dad showed up at my apartment to bitch about the car that I mentioned was now not working. Unfortunately, the Pook had to deal with some of it while I was at work. I apologized to her. My dad can be a nice guy at times, but mostly,he is a Type A prick who yells, screams, and intimidates people with his physical size to get his way. He is the essence of the school yard bully grown up.

Example: Dad went to a store of a major home improvement company that I work for. He either got into in with another customer or an employee. Weeks later, when I spoke to Mom to get some details as to what happened, she said, “You know how your daddy is. The judge gave him probation.”


On the way in to the office, I saw a woman who looked like Clarissa. I know it isn't her, but I looked anyway. I know that she's been dead for two years. At the same time, the funeral service was closed casket. I guess that I never got the last little bit of closure on it. I never got to see her for myself. My mind sometimes wanders. Maybe she's not really dead. Maybe she faked her death and is working as a bartender in a bar on Virginia Street in downtown Reno. Or maybe she's gone off and decided to become a student at Wichita State. Yeah, I know that's not likely. Like I say, my mind sometimes wanders.


Often my mind does wander to Reno. I lived there for a while two years ago. At the time,things were tough all over. However, I consider Reno, like my place of birth of Atlanta and the University of Georgia’s home city of Athens, home. My heart is tied to these three cities. What is about Reno? Lots of things, especially the things that Georgia isn’t.You can drink beer 24/7. Lots to do. If you need to go to California, you’re only a 10 minute drive away. It take 2 hours to get to Sacramento, 4 hours to get to San Fran, and8 hours to get to Los Angeles. I enjoyed looking at thew Sierra Nevada mountain range. I dig Hot August Nights, where you can watch the parade of antique cars. I like the Reno balloon races. Yeah, I miss Reno. Got to get back there soon.

Some people at work were talking about the whole Kobe Bryant fiasco. The general consensus is that the woman was out to get paid. In spite of what others think, I do believe that the woman’s sexual activities days before and after the alleged rape is relevant. It helps to establish an alternate theory. That, and the fact that the victim had intercourse with Bryant and two other men within days of each other may explain any bruising. I ‘m no expert and I only have a BA in psychology, but I find it highly unlikely that a woman that was raped on Monday will have consensual sex with two different men on Wednesday. I don’t believe that you can sell that to a jury. The only two people who know what really happened in that room is Kobe and that woman. Guilty or not guilty of rape, Kobe brought this on himself. He did cheat on his wife. For that indiscretion alone, he is paying for it. Believe me.


Right now, I’m reading Elizabeth Wurtzel’s Prozac Nation. Very interesting so far. It's the tale of how she battles her clincal depression. She’s talking about the fact that her mom and dad were at each other’s throats. Her parents got divorced. Mom got custody and had to work these crappy part time jobs to make ends meet. She also talks about how she used to cut herself at school while listening to Patti Smythe or Foreigner. You have to read in with the mindset that clinical depression IS a disease. Yeah, we all get down from time to time because of the events in this crazy world. That’s the way the pickle squirts. However, when you are so down that you can’t even get out of bed or eat or work and it last for months, professional help is needed. Everyone needs a little help every now and then.

Hurricane Ivan is now a category 5 hurricane, the strongest level possible. At this point, I’m praying that it hits Tampa soon. My employer has a satellite office in Tampa. If they get hit, we get their work which means overtime! Sorry, but I need the money. I do hope that my friends in Florida are okay. Then again, they’re natives. I think they’ll be okay.

Just finished up reading this book on my holiday. It's written by a young woman named Abigail Vona called Bad Girl: Confessions of a Teenage Delinquent. It's the true story of a troubled teen that gets lock down in a Tennessee boot camp for a year. Anyone that knows me knows that I dig nonfiction. I think that reality and real life tales of people crawling back to the light from the depths of hell is more interesting than any novel that you can make up. Pretty gusty to write about the lowest and most embarassing points in your life. Then again, it may help other get from the depths of hell. Also, you can check out her website, Abigail Vona's website. Have fun reading!

Went to the grocery store with my wife, The Pook, on Saturday. I always find it amazing the stuff you can find at the grocery store. When we stopped by the cereal aisle, I saw this cereal called Good Friends. They had pictures of couples smiling. I'm sorry, but why would anyone whant to buy breakfast cereal with people smiling on it? There should not be ANYONE smiling on a box of cereal unless it's a child, a cartoon figure, or someone that has just one an Olympic gold medal, okay? There should be a middle age guy on the box that hasn't shaven in four days in his boxers, a whitetop, and blood shot eyes. Wouldn't that be more appropriate for an adult's breakfast cereal? C'mon, who is really that freaking chipper in the morning?

There's this new cell phone service commerical that's out with Kayne West and Atlanta's own, Ludacris. It brought a smile to my face when mentioned my old neighborhood of Adamsville. Woo hoo! Yeah, I know it sounds silly, but hey, you take them where you can get them.

It’s hard to believe that Clarissa has been gone for two years. It just seems like yesterday that we were eating pizza in the television lobby in Reed Hall. Unfortunately, over the past few years, our meeting place was in various rooms in Crawford Long Hospital.

Clarissa had Crohn’s disease, which is a hereditary condition in which, depending on the severity, your intestines are shredded into ribbon. It makes it impossible to eat almost anything, not to mention going to the bathroom. Her dad has Crohn’s on top of diabetes, but it was never as severe as Clarissa’s. Clarissa was always pushing herself to get better so that she can get back to classes at the University of Georgia so she can finish getting her degree in poly sci. I think that was one of the reasons that she always winded up in the hospital.

I remember the last time that I saw her. She was not doing well that day. I had to help her sit and get to the bathroom. She started to thank me. All of her other so called friends bailed out on her. All of her relatives had better things to do. Schedules to keep. Business meetings to attend. There were very few people that gave her more than just a passing thought. I was told that I was there most, outside of her parents and younger sister. The last thing that I ever did with her is help her into bed and closed the door as she fell asleep.

Two days later, I get a call from Clarissa’s father. He was the one that broke the news to me. Clarissa died from an infection through an operation she had done to remove the diseased part of her small intestine. I was in shock. Even though it’s been years, I guess a part of me still is. She was supposed to get out of the hospital the day before. She always got better before. It wasn’t supposed to turn out the way that it did. However, this was really happening. One of my best friends on the planet is dead. There was nothing that I could do about it.

At the funeral, I was just in a daze. I served as one of the pallbearers. Burying one of your friends is like burying a part of yourself. I just remember the weeks after the funeral just calling her cell phone just to hear her voice. She always thought that she was ugly because the steroids she had to take bulked her up. I always though of her then and now to be beautiful. She was one of the few people on my short list of people that I know that always had unconditional love for me. No matter how bad I screwed up, she always had my back. No matter how much of a failure I thought I was, Clarissa always cared. Never turned her back on me. There aren’t too many people who will stand by you through thick and thin anymore. I honestly think that people like this are a dying breed. On the other hand, Clarissa was around. Maybe there’s hope for us all.

There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of my friend. Whenever I have a day everyone is yelling and screaming at me and want my head on a platter, I think of Clarissa. Where ever she is, I think that she’s in my corner. Then, I don’t feel so bad.

Very weird. Got an E-mail from Liz. She said that she doesn’t want to be friends anymore. Odd. Don’t know what I said or did to make her come to that decision. Yes, I know what you’re saying : "Demetrius, you had to have known." Well, no, I didn’t and I don’t. Usually, someone will eventually tell you if they have a problem with you. She didn’t. Yeah, I’m a nutjob at times, but all in all, I think that I’m a good person. Just a little shocked and a little hurt, but what can you do? Life goes on, I guess. Don’t know what her problem is. Just as well. I have problems of my own to deal with. Like having faith in people, for instance. What a dumb thing to do.

Well, the car that I’m borrowed while waiting for my car to get fixed just crapped out. I wouldn’t even bother with having a car if I didn’t have to. Except that this is Atlanta, ladies and gentlemen. You have to have a car. The bus systems for the metro Atlanta area are a joke, which leave you in a bad position after 1 am or if you have to get to work on Sunday. At least I still have some access to wheels. Sigh. I’m going to take about something else now.


The Republican National Convention is taking place in New York City now. The Democratic senator from my home state, "Zig Zag" Zell Miller is on the mike tonight.
Zell is a freaking joke. If he’s going to kiss Dubya’s backside, why doesn’t he just switch sides and be done with it? If any of you have read my old webpage, you know that I think that President Dubya and the Republicans are a joke. I would have more respect if the GOP would have a motto like, "The GOP: I’ve Got Mine! Screw You!!" Don’t get it twisted. I don’t think that the Democrats are anything to write home about, either. Both of the major political parties suck. I just think that the Dems shove it up America’s asspipe with a little less force. Anyway, it’s all one big circle jerk before it’s on and popping in November.
Sigh. I’m beat and need of an adult beverage. That’s all for now.

Yes, I know that I am frying bigger fish on my plate these days: The Pook’s illness, money, my sanity, and my chronic sinusitis. However, there is something else that is sticking in my craw.
I haven’t heard from my friend, Liz, in over a week. Keep getting her voicemail. It’s very unlike her not to call me back or not to answer her phone. I don’t know if she’s super busy. Or if she’s having problems with her cell phone. Or if she has something else major going on. Or if she’s sick or dead. Or if I did or said something to piss her off. To my knowledge, I haven’t did or said anything to piss her off. If I did, I’m truly clueless as to what it could be. You’d figure I get a phone call or E-mail in the "Dear John" variety if that was the case. Hey, everyone else seems to feel free to call me out, sometimes on the daily. I wouldn’t see why she would if that were the case. As much as we abhor confrontation and that reality stuff at times, a person would like to know where he stands.
At any rate, I hope that she is all right and that I hear from her soon.
That’s it. Back to your regularly scheduled program.

I am so out of it. I wish that I could go back to sleep and snooze for another couple of hours. But since I’m already halfway awake, I might as well make the most of it.
Dealt with a traffic ticket yesterday. It’s a freaking chump charge. It’s just a way of some slack Atlanta suburb to make a fist of dollars. You all know that they make it as hard as possible to defend so that you’ll just give up and pay the fine. Sometimes it's just not worth. Unlike like most jurisdictions, at least this one will let you know what your rights are under the United States Consitiution. Since the hit on the DL won’t hurt me as far as points go, what the hell? I just hate having to go through all the trouble. Oh well.

I saw this hot dog commercial the other day. It summed up how I feel about reality shows and why I don’t watch or understand them. I have to deal with reality everyday. Why in the hell would I watch it on television? I grew out of so called "reality television" after the second season of "The Real World" was over. I even grew out of having to see Jerry Springer every day. There is such a thing as being too real.


The Pook is still having a hard time in regard to her diabetes and all the meds that she has to take. I think, with the proper medical advice, that she will be able to adjust somewhat.
I don’t have a medical degree nor am I a diabetes expert. If I could wave a magic wand to make her 100% better, I would. But I can’t. Like I said, life does have a tendency for being too real.