10/31/05: First the lights, then the collar goes up, and the wind begins to blow

Happy Halloween. Best holiday of the year.

I'm dressing up as my boss and I intend to take a picture or two. He's out of town so we'll email him the pics.  I hope he laughs.

The baby is going as a watermelon. You all lose on that one. Nice guesses, though.

In a way, this period of not owning a computer is really exciting and fun. I can dream about all the cool machines I might someday own but I don't have to commit to any of them.

Because once I commit, I will surely commit to the wrong machine and end up bitching for a few years. That's my way with technology.

I've been thinking more and more about a Mac, so if any of you are Apple Experts, here are a few questions:

1) Is the difference between this iBook and this Powerbook worth $700? Especially with the iBook having longer battery life...
2) Is the new Intel chip that Apple will be incorporating in the next year or so going to make anyone who buys a Mac now feel like a dunce for not waiting?
3) Does Windows plan on launching a new OS (Longhorn or Vista or some shit) in the next year, making a PC purchase right now also sort of untimely?

I need to know. Although I am thinking I won't have a new computer for about three months. I aim to research this one better than the last one.

One bummer about buying a Mac is that I'd have to purchase word, excel, etc. for Mac, having already done so for our 2 PC's. That's a couple hunnert bucks right there.

And since I have used Microsoft FrontPage to create this piece of shit website, I'd need to buy a new Mac-based web publishing program. And from what I understand, the "HTML" generated by FrontPage is so jumbled and arcane, I'd have a hard time importing these old pages into a new platform. And I know how you all love to browse the archives.*  But the bright side is maybe I could get a cool new publishing program instead of this rather stupid one. Or I could just use blogger or something else that's free.

It was a beautiful day in NYC today, nice enough really that I could have shot some outdoor hoops if I'd had the time. Not many days like this one left. I always feel a vague sense of melancholy when Fall arrives and it's a beautiful sunny day but it's just a little nippy and there's not a soul on any of the basketball courts. All those beautiful basketball courts, just sitting there. I've noticed that there are way fewer destroyed backboards in NY than there used to be. Big chips to the Department of Parks for staying on top of that.

I enjoyed the piss out of this weekend. Without doing much of anything. PBdotC eLogged the Giants-Skins game, which was fun. The live eLog is a concept that we need to see more of. Well done, Pete. I have a bunch of interns sequestered in the basement trying to figure out ways we can steal that idea and repackage it here at www.verbungle.com.

Inxe writes in from Chicago after a brush with fame:

It's 9am Sunday morning, and I have to return a movie at blockbuster. I'm on the 17th floor and the elevator door opens. There's a father and his teenage daughter with 3 large suitcases. Oh my he looks familiar, what's his name. It's the guy from the White Sox and Yankees, it's not Jose but the other one. Shit what's his name? I cannot remember, he's talking with his daughter in Spanish. So I ask, yes I ask! Can I take a picture with my cell phone when we get to the lobby? He kind of nods. We get down to the lobby, and he walks directly to the building garage. I get totally dissed! His daughter looks at me as she walks by and gives that 'my dad totally blew you off hahahaha'. I ask the guy at the front desk, hey what's his name. It's Orlando Hernandez. He apparently lives in the building, who knew.

Not sure if it's too early to report this, but Verbungle.com has stepped into craigslist territory, helping broker a high-end real estate deal that will see Inxe moving in with my old college buddy Vic in Chicago. We didn't have much to do with the deal, actually, but we put them in contact with each other and they worked something out. It should be interesting. Sort of an "Even Couple" with two Oscars. Not really. It should be fine. Looking forward to the story of the first dirty dish-inspired argument.

If you're writing a story in which a guy and his woman are having an argument, you can feel free to use this line I came up with today while I was walking back from Le Pain Quotidien with sandwiches, coffee, and chocolate chip cookies.

"The only time you listen to me is when you think I might say something you can throw back in my face later."

It's yours. Free to do with as you wish. If you want to put it into a PowerPoint presentation, fine.  Want to say it to the conductor on MetroNorth tomorrow morning? Go for it. I am releasing it like a beautiful wild bird into the open skies of the internets.

No pictures here for the last few days. Is that bothering anybody?

For ten points, tell me whodat?

* Actually, I don't know if anyone besides me has EVER looked at the archives.