Rant Archives | Page 21 of 38 | As in guillotine...

Blogger…No More

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:February 2, 2005
Post category:Personal
Post comments:11 Comments

The time has come, I think. I started this blog almost two years ago to the day, January 29, 2003. Blogger's profile pages are a little wonky, not having updated since November, but I figure even with my decreased output over the past couple of months, it's been close to 600 posts and 200,000 words on everything from politics to Pokémon, poetry to...ah, pumpkin seeds? It's been fun, it's been educational, it's been great for keeping me writing, it's been great for simulating staying in touch with people, but lately, it's become more of an obligation than a joy. Some…

Pumpkin Seeds: Winter Blahs Edition

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:January 26, 2005
Post category:Personal
Post comments:4 Comments

1. What to do? Against my better instincts, this blog is quickly becoming one of those personal, "yesterday I went to the Mall" kind of blogs that I find terribly boring. It's not that I don't have as much to say as I used to - god forbid that day ever comes! - but for someone reason I'm just not as compelled to log on and spend 30 minutes or so writing it out. 2. So, yesterday I stayed home from work as Isaac was battling a cold and I was fighting the beginnings of one off. Kept India home…

Pumpkin Seeds: Will I Ever Write a Complete Post Again? Edition

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:January 18, 2005
Post category:Personal
Post comments:2 Comments

1. I was heading to the airport the Sunday before last for my trip to Miami when I realized I hadn't flown since August of 2001, to Seattle for my last National Poetry Slam. Nine days and six flights later, I've had my fill of airports to last me another 3.5 years! Almost every one of my flights experienced significant delays, including Friday night out of LaGuardia that made me miss my connecting flight in O'Hare and end up staying in Chicago overnight with a complimentary hotel room and a $300 voucher for a future flight. The voucher made up…

Pumpkin Seeds: A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That Edition

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:January 6, 2005
Post category:Personal
Post comments:1 Comment

1. So, this time around a Democratic Senator decided to show a little backbone as California's Barbara Boxer stepped up and joined the House's challenge of the certification of the electoral college results, specifically in regards to the issues in Ohio. Unlike in 2000 where not a single one stepped forward to support members of the Congressional Black Caucus fighting to have the voting irregularities in their mostly minority districts investigated. Not John Kerry, not John Edwards, not Bob Graham, not Joseph Lieberman, each presumably looking forward to their own challenges for the nomination. Mind you, the idea was not…

Pumpkin Seeds: Seven Days “Post-Op” Edition

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:January 3, 2005
Post category:Personal
Post comments:4 Comments

1. I really hope the idea that how you start the New Year reflects the tone the rest of it will take is way off base. 2. Trip #4 to the ER yesterday included an excruciating round of poking and prodding of the wound - literally, a pair of surgical scissors stuck up in there and opened in various spots to encourage more drainage. The doctor really wanted me to take the anesthesia this time but the memory of the burning was still too vivid so I clenched my teeth through it and almost regretted it. Almost. Pain you can…

Real-Life ER Drama

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:December 31, 2004
Post category:Personal
Post comments:10 Comments

I visited the ER many times as an accident-prone kid - and a couple of times as a still-accident-prone adult - almost always for stitches, almost always somewhere in my head, to the point that one time, after seeing it done so often, my mother got medieval and fashioned her own butterfly stitch for one of my lesser wounds. As of this morning, I've visited the ER three times in the last five days. *** Semi-graphic details to follow. Check out Robert Smigel's hi-f'n-larious "Blue Christmas" instead! (Or, in addition if you're the voyeur type, like Dyanna!) *** Long story…

Profiling Jehovah’s Witnesses

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:December 20, 2004
Post category:Personal
Post comments:7 Comments

"Game recognizes game." Or in this case, former Jehovah's Witnesses recognize current ones. There's a youngish couple in our building that I pegged as JWs a while back and finally had my J-dar confirmed when they came knocking during the Jets game yesterday. Something about the way they carried themselves rang familiar, but it was seeing them heading out a few times on weeknights, usually around 6-6:30pm, that gave them away. At those times, they were always well-dressed, but modestly so, with briefcases in hand and the friendly demeanor of those who genuinely believe they have found the way to…