My original plan had been to go in to work today, but (a) sleep was just too appealing and then (b) sitting on my deck in the sun was also more appealing. So I read more of Karamazov and One Man's Chorus (essays, etc, by Anthony Burgess). I also managed to do a little housework type stuff.

Lauren had suggested that I join her and Jesse over at DragonCon, but Myra had already gotten to me, and alternative plans had been arranged. I popped over to the Local for a bite to eat and to chat with Stacy. During this conversation, Stacy inadvertently let slip that she had lost our bet. What bet? Well, about a month ago, Stacy was making grandiose statements about how she didn't need boys, didn't want any relationships or anything like that. So I made a bet that she couldn't last six months without dating or even kissing. Well it turns out that on Tuesday night, while I was up at the pub, she was playing a little tonsil hockey. So, I won the bed, and she owes me beers.

After the pub, I headed home and Myra picked me up. We headed out to Sandy Springs, or somewhere thereabouts. This was a gathering of the people she went out west with, to compare photos and so on. This was entertaining.

From here we went Smith's Old Bar (my first time) to see the Tender Idols. This was a very cool gig. Smith's is a great venue. Myra wasn't feeling too well, so after the gig (well, we left part way through it), we left and she dropped me off at Deux Plex.

Now, I had been drinking a lot over the course of the evening (Newcastles and a shot of Rumplemintz at the Local, cheap beer at the photo party, more Newcastles at Smith's) and this was starting to take it's toll. At the club I switched to whisky and coke, which was essentially my downfall. The place was packed (many DragonCon goers), and the expected regulars were in attendance (Lauren, Kevin, Billy, Christian, etc). Brigid was also out - the first time I had seen her in quite a while. Voltaire was supposed to perform at midnight, but his appearance kept on slipping back. In the end Jenny took me home.

2 July

Jenny had slept on the couch, and when she got up she ordered pizza. Yay Jenny! Today was, as is typical for a Sunday in my life, a lazy day of recovery. I did some reading. In the evening, John and Stacy came over and we watched the usual Sunday fare on Fox. My apartment was turned briefly into a laundromat (John doesn't have a washing machine). Stacy brought food (Gumbo-a-go-go was closed so she brought Wendy's).

We also played a game of scrabble. This time it was John who was able to use up all his letters, but fortunately my score was such that he could not exceed it with all the bonus points. Rock on! [D: 181, J: 175, S: 102]

3 July

Many people took today off work in order to have a big long weekend break. I was, however, one of the working types (as was John for that matter). It was quiet at work since I was the only one there, and there wasn't too many distractions in the form of phone calls, so I managed to get a bunch of stuff done.

After work, I headed home and mucked around on my computer for a few hours, before heading up to the Local to meet up with Stacy and John. Tim, bartender Matt (having a night off) and Todd were also about, and over the course of the night we were joined by Susan and Emily, limo Matt, Steve. All in all it was a pleasant evening. My cell phone battery died, which lent itself to my missing a few phone calls (notably Lauren). John and I headed up to HexensNacht but were charged a cover, so we said "Nah" and went home. Yes, we're cheap bastards.

A new bet with Stacy: she may not say "fuck" or "cunt" for the next three months. She's also not allowed to have sex. Such silliness. :-)

PS Hello to John's friends in Illinois.

4 July

Independence Day

So, how did I commemorate the throwing off of the yoke of English oppression by the colonists of America? The way I spend most Sundays - resting, reading, and updating my web page. Sandy, Kelley, et al are having a get together this afternoon around 3ish that John and I might attend. Apparently it's a Mexican theme. Hmmm.... Later, Stacy wants to go downtown to Centennial Park for the fireworks display. I'm not so keen, due to the excessive numbers of people I expect will be there. We shall see...

Lunch/breakfast/brunch/whatever was taken at 12:00 with Stacy at El Azteca. I had chicken quesadillas (yum yum yum) and Stacy had shrimp fajitas, which also looked good. Stacy also had margaritas. Two of. I just stuck to Coke. After this meal, I spent the rest of the afternoon at home reading. I finished The Brothers Karamazov, which is a brilliant piece of literature (I recommend it to everyone), and started reading Italo Calvino's collection of essays entitled Why Read The Classics?. This last is proving to be as insightful and erudite as other Calvino writings I have read.

John appeared around 6ish, and we proceeded to discuss music, turn on the TV, and play scrabble. Over the next hour and a half or so, Jenny and Stacy also made an appearance. Sherrod gave me a call to say she was having a pool party at her apartment. TV consisted of The Simspons, Jeopardy!, and baseball. I came from behind to win the Scrabble game [D: 262, J:210] and then John, Jenny and Stacy headed up to Centennial Park to watch the fireworks.

After the fireworks, the wanderers returned and we watched more TV. Everyone headed home around midnight and it was off to bed for me also.

5 July

Back to work for everyone. So much to do, so little time. Hehe.

After work, it was Trivia time. For The Last Time, John Is Not Gay had a fairly good game, missing only four questions, getting three out of four for the half-time question and full points on the last question. But, alas, it was not enough, and we came fourth. Damn! The team consisted of me, John, Jenny, Stacy, Lauren (for a brief period), Sarah (for a little while), Kevin (a late arrival). It was fun, but we all went home fairly soon after the game. The fact that I was on call and was to have a 5am conference call was my excuse.

6 July

And it was good planning to go home then. I was up for an hour from 1:15 dealing with a wee system problem, and then sleep was not smooth between then and 5am. The call lasted three hours...

I went straight to work after the conference call, but left around 3pm due to being excessively tired. I came home, checked my mail, and proceeded to fall asleep on my couch. Around 7ish, I got up and went to bed and slept for another hour or so. Then I got up to watch some TV, and John and Stacy came over for a couple of hours. By 11:30 I was back in bed and asleep.

7 July

But I was still tired today. Need more sleep. New book arrival today - Boris Vian's I Spit on Your Graves

After work, I went up to the Local for dinner and drink with Stacy. Caught up with Tim, Todd, Ryan, Daniel (just back from his trip to Spain). After three beers I went home and Stacy came over a little later and we watched Fight Club.

During the movie, Stacy lost her bet by uttering the four letter expletive, "Fuck." As soon as she said it, she realised the implications and now she has to buy me beer.

8 July

Pub with Stacy then off to Deux Plex for the second to last Secret Room there.

9 July

Hang out at home most of the day. John and Stacy came over for TV time.

After watching The Man's Show and South Park, John and I watched a very cool documentary on Walruses and Polar Bears in the Arctic Circle.

10 July

After work, I went to Waffle House with Lauren, where we played some more Let's Pretend.

After that, I went home for a while. Stacy, in the meantime, had gone to the Ricki Martin show at Lakewood (with Susan), and had requested that I meet her at the Local afterwards. So I went. However, I had forgotten that tonight was the first night of Karaoke. This was scary, but also very entertaining. John also turned up, as did Steve, Charlie, Todd, and many others. Daphne and Colleen really got into it. When I left the pub, I checked on Stacy to see if she needed a ride home. But her attentions were somewhat engaged, and she got ride later.

11 July

Baseball All-Stars Game

Lauren won tickets (at work) for the All Stars Baseball game at Turner Field. So she decided to give me one.

So after work, we played in traffic for some time in an attempt to get to the game. She also had complimentary parking in the Gold lot, which was right by the stadium. Our seats were pretty good, as you can see from this picture.

While the game itself wasn't exceptionally exciting, the ceremonies that proceeded the game were entertaining enough. We arrived as each of the players was being introduced - closeups shown on the huge electronic score board. The All-Stars game pits the best of the American League against the best of the Nation League, as voted by the fans. So there were quite a few names I recognised.

After the introductions, the Canadian flag was unfurled (there are Canadian teams in Major League Baseball) and the Canadian national anthem was performed. Then the flags of the nations of the players were shown. Finally, after a great pause, a huge US flag was unfurled on the field and the US national anthem was sung by Brandi. While not being a fan of her music, I must admit that she has a very good voice. But the thing that disturbed me the most was the introduction of funky back beats into the song - come on folks, this is supposed to be a solemn song not a dance track. Anyway, all bitching aside, as the song came to a close, fireworks were set off.

And then there were the jets. Yes, four F-16s (I think, maybe F-15s) roared overhead at a very low altitude. One thing you have to say for the Americans - they do know how to put on a spectacle. Heheh. Point to note - representatives of each of the four branches of the US military were also on the field for the entire ceremony.

We left during the seventh inning, and headed up to the pub for a bite to eat, where we were joined by Stacy.

12 July

Trivia. Tonight's players were Kevin, Stacy and John, Lauren, Jenny, and me. We played a good game, but once again (as too often in recent days) it just wasn't good enough. After the game, Jenny went home (she wasn't feeling well) and the rest of us went over to MJQ. We didn't stay too late, but I did get a good dance in.

13 July

14 July

Now, BellSouth were supposed to have finished some work for us by the 12th, but they hadn't. This meant that wasn't going to have to work on the weekend after all. Yes, this was good. But it would have been better to have known this earlier as then I could have gone to Orlando with John and Kevin for the Funker Vogt show. Damn it all to hell.

So instead, I went to the pub with Stacy. There was a bunch of people up there (there's a surprise) and around 10:30ish, Stacy disappeared. Someone else did, too, but I'm not going to go into those details. So Charlie and I settled our tabs and wandered up to the Righteous Room. This is quite a cosy little bar. I met a couple of girls there (friends of Charlie) and then I went off to Vault to meet up with Lauren.

But Lauren never made it to the club. She had had dinner with Jenn and Vance and then they all continued to drink at Lauren's apartment and so they stayed in. No matter, Chason and Billy were there and they ensured that I got home safely.

15 July

Stacy awoke me at 11ish to say "Let's go get breakfast." So I pulled myself out of bed and she came and picked me up (my car was left at the Local last night - I wasn't in a condition to drive). We went up to the Majestic and had something to eat (eh, not as good as Waffle House though).

Stacy then dropped me back at the Local for my car, I decided to step on in and say hello, and ended up spending the rest of the afternoon there. Eeek. Over the course of the day I spent time with John C, Stacy, Jenny, Charlie, and numerous other people. Colleen was entertaining as our bar tender. At one point I told the story of Bad Jelly the Witch to some of the patrons. It was a long day. At around 11pm I wandered over to Lauren's to see if she was going to the final night at Deux Plex. She was still getting ready, so I just hung out on her couch. Where I fell asleep. So, rather than taking me to the club, she just dropped me back at my apartment, where I slept.

16 July

Day of rest. Very slow.

17 July

18 July

Tonight I flew to Orlando for meetings with Coke tomorrow. I also had a conference call at 5am in the morning to prepare for. Eek. I got to bed around midnight.

19 July

Today was a long day. A two-hour conference call at 5am started the day, which was followed by a mostly informal get together with people from the Orlando Coca-Cola Bottling Company from 8am until around 3pm. This was a very successful meeting. And then it was off to catch my plane back to Atlanta. Which was late. Very late.

So I finally arrived at the Local just as Trivia had finished. Damn and blast. The group (John, Stacy, Jenny, Kevin, Chason) had performed well, but blown the final question. As it happened, I knew the correct answer to the final question. Damn, eh? So I had a shot of whiskey, Jenny went home, and the rest of us went over to Nomenclature, for the first time in many weeks.

This was fun, but I drank far too much whiskey and coke.

20 July

A long day at work followed by another trip to the airport. Tonight's destination: Tampa.

21 July

John's 29th birthday!

My meetings today were shorter than expected due to one of the more important participants being unable to show up. Nevertheless, the three hours spent were very useful. I was able to get to the airport earlier than expected, and got myself put on standby for an earlier flight than my original 6:55 one. Fortunately, I was squeezed on to the 4:40 flight and made it back to Atlanta in good time for festivities.

And the festivities started at the Vortex on Peachtree Street, where Jill was celebrating her birthday. Lauren and I headed there after picking up John's birthday present (a fine bottle of bourbon). There, I had a couple of Whitbreads and a swiss and mushroom burger. Tr�s bien.

After the dinner, Lauren and I headed to John's where the drinking commenced in earnest. Stories to come later...

22 July

I finally crawled out of bed around midday after Stacy called me. We both walked over to John's place to pick up our cars and then Stacy, John, Linda and I went for breakfast at the Radial Cafe. This was a very pleasant meal.

I had arranged to meet John C at the Local around 2:30, so this was my next stop. Demetrius was there, and so was Joel, who I hadn't seen in many a moon was there and we caught up on the gossip. We were joined by Stacy and Jenny and around 5 we all headed home to do chores and things.

Later we (well, John, Stacy and I) all met up again at the Local. From here we adventured over to Billy's housewarming. The alternative was to see Faith and the Muse at the Masquerade, but I didn't really feel that way inclined. So we all jumped in to Stacy's car and away we went. Billy's party was fun. We continued to drink, and when Stacy and John decided to head off, Lauren convinced me to stay, for which I am glad.

23 July

Today it rained. Hard. Granted Atlanta needed the rain, but this much? "How much?" you ask. Well, North Avenue by my apartment was closed due to flooding. I couldn't get in to my apartment complex because the driveway was under water. The lower parking deck was under water. Some people's apartments were a foot deep (30cm) under water. Am I glad I live upstairs?!!

So I was pretty glad I had left my car at the Local last night. I finished doing some laundry and some homework, and Jenny showed up. She helped me clean up a bit (actually, she a fair bit) and then John arrived to do his Laundry. Finally Stacy turned up with dinner and we were all happy. We followed the usual routine of Futurama, King of the Hill, The Simpsons, Malcolm In The Middle, and The X-Files on Fox, followed by The Man Show on Comedy Central.

We also played Scrabble, which John won [Damon: 128, Jenny: 71, Stacy: 95, John: 155]. Of course, John's score was only so high because he managed to use up all his letters and Jenny was stuck with high scoring letters. Me a sore loser? Never.

24 July

Today was a long day at work. Nine until a bit before eight. Damn. And then I got home and locked my keys in the car. Who can say "Dork!" Oh well. I managed to track down John C who was able to go in to work to pick up a spare, and Michael of the leasing office (who lives next door) was able to get me into my apartment. And lovely Stacy came over and kept me company while I waited for John C.

After rescuing my car, John and Stacy and I went over to Local for a drink. As it was Karaoke tonight, took my camera. Bambi and Kiki sung up a storm, getting the crowd into it. Matt and Charlie performed Whisky Bar with aplomb. Over the course of the night we were treated many times to Kiki and Bambi doing everything from Madonna, to Salt'n'Pepa, to Guns and Roses, and Bon Jovi. Bambi really put on quite an enthusiastic show to an enthusiatic crowd. I don't think the crowd minded the slight drop in service when Daphne and Colleen hit the stage.

25 July

Work, dinner at Waffle House with Lauren, and then an early night in preparation for tomorrow morning's 5am conference call.

26 July

Today I was up way too early for my own good. A quarter past four was the time when my alarm went off. I rolled out of bed and into the shower and then into my car, off to work. As is typical of days with such ridiculous starting times, I wasn't very productive. So around 2pm I headed on home.

And went to sleep for a couple of hours or so. After I awoke (for the second time that day) I had another shower, picked up Stacy and we bounced into the Local for Trivia. Tonight's team, Rebecca's Favourite Alcoholics, consisted of myself, Stacy, John, Kevin, Jenny, and John C from work. It was a good game; we were ahead at half time, and in third place going into the final question. We got the last question right, but didn't bet sufficient points, and so ended up in fourth place. Damn and blast.

After trivia, we (except John C, who went home) went over the Masquerade to see My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. They were supported by two other acts (whose names I have forgotten, but who were entertaining). Thrill Kill were great fun. Granted they were looking a little old, and may well have been lip-syncing, but we danced up a storm. It was way good fun. I had to have another shower when I got home, I was so drenched in sweat. Definitely well worth the $15 cover charge.

27 July

Work and then sleep. A new DVD arrived in the mail - The Princess Bride - as did a new CD - Welcome to Earth by Apoptygma Berzerk.

It was also announced today that Das Ich would be playing at the Riviera on August 7 and that Apoptygma Berzerk and VNV Nation would be playing on September 9. Both are gigs that cannot be missed!

28 July

Friday! I'm on call tonight, as John C is up in Greensboro, so it'll be a quiet one. When I got home from work, I had three new DVDs: The Exorcist, the 1997 remake of Lolita, and Stigmata.

So I munched on some cheese bread and went over to the Local for a barbecue sandwich and a couple of beers. Stacy, Todd, Steve, Daniel and I played some dice game for money. Tim (server Tim, nor barfly Tim) also joined in for a few rounds. Well, I didn't do particularly well. So, when I had decided that I had spent enough for one night, I called it quits and went home and watched Stigmata. It was an entertaining movie, well made, if a little over-done. I must admit that I disagree with the call: "The Exorcist for the 90s." I mean, it was a Catholic-based movie and it was good; just not that good.

Stacy was supposed to meet up with Jenny, but somehow that didn't work out, so Jenny ended up on my doorstep. Being the wonderful person that I am (it's true!), I let Jenny stay over.

I also ordered a bunch of DVDs today. I'm so bad :-)

29 July

For the record, I hate being on call. In recent times, I've had very little disturbances when on call, but for some reason, there have been problems in San Diego, so I got paged at 3am, 4am, and 5am. Grrr. I was able to sleep and rest longer than I expected, as John C didn't get out of Greensboro until 7am. So I managed to watch most of Lolita (1997) before he got back to Atlanta. And then it was off to work.

Today's conversion of the system went very well, and I was out of work by four. So I headed to the Local for some food and a couple of beers. Andrea was working the bar today, so I got to get to know her a little better. It turns out she's a britpop DJ, and will be spinning at MJQ. Rock on! She has a lot of stuff that Jody won't play for me, so it looks like Carter USM is going to be on the play list, as is Kinky Afro. Rock the fuck on!

After the pub (around 6:30ish) I went home and watched The Princess Bride. After the movie, Lauren picked me up and we went to see Loser with Jesse and Andie. How was the film? Well, forgettable would be an understatement. It's not that it was a bad film, it's just that it was so mediocre it left absolutely no impression. Unfortunate. After the movie, I allowed Lauren to apply peer pressure, and so I went to the Vault.

The Vault was slow. I did dance to There's No Other Way but that was about it. I left about 2am.

Confession: It's a bad thing when you have a crush on a girl with a boyfriend. It's also a bad thing when you have a friend who has slept with said boyfriend even though b&g are together. This is a situation to be avoided. But, hell, she is damn cute.

Additional note: Apoptygma Berzerk's Welcome To Earth is a brilliant album that you all really should get. Do it.

30 July

Cleaning time. I tidied up my apartment a little, throwing out the trash and cleaning the kitchen and bathroom. The place could to with a vacuum, but, hey, I'm not THAT diligent. I also signed up to the UK-Indie mailing list on E-Groups. Yippee. I also did some work updating this web page.

I'm meeting Jenny for lunch at the Local, and then later this afternoon I may hang out with Thompson. Later I expect to hear from Stacy and John about how their camping trip went. Then I guess it'll be the usual Sunday evening TV at my place.

So Jenny came over and we chatted for a bit and then went over to the Local for lunch. And a couple of beers. The Tom Green testicular cancer documentary was on, and was quite interesting. Not something I would want to have to deal with. After the pub we hung out for a bit before Jenny went home. Then John came over, as did Thompson. We did the usual Sunday night activities, and when Stacy came over we played Scrabble, which Stacy won.

31 July

Today's excitement from work was interviewing people for a technical support and network administration role. This is to free myself up to get more involved in technical sales and system design. It was quite an experience.

Once again, it was karaoke night at the Local. I really can't believe I've been going to this. I blame Stacy. But even more distrubing, tonight I actually sang. Dan picked Down Under for us to sing. Heheh. It was fun. Stacy and I then went for a feed at the Majestic.

On our way over to the Majestic, we noticed a large number of police cars outside the Clermont. Found out today that someone was shot, execution style, over there. Freaky, eh?