ah, the wonders of technology

so, i'm putting this database together for a lobbying firm in austin. it's all about transportation stuff, which i find horribly boring. at any rate, in my quest for more information, i've had to reasearch community service organizations in four metropolitian areas in texas. some conclusions i have reached: the lion's club needs to invest in a faster server, and include more info on their site that is actually useful. dallas has more municipalities and clubs than any one city has a right to, further cementing my intense dislike of all things dallas, except for my friends who have made the decision to live in the metroplex, and neiman marcus, of course. btw, doesn't metroplex sound like a) a really goofy wrestling move, or b) a really ginormous mall?

my faithful dog, beauregard, has some nasty gas today, which is about the only thing keeping me awake while i cut and paste phone numbers, email addresses, ect. into a word document, so i can print all the info out and dump it into access. blah, oh so boring. i feel like i'm whoring myself out for this job. which i pretty much am, since i'm mostly opposed to lobbying, and could give a crap about whether or not texdot has enough info to get the votes it wants for prop 1. i'm probably not supposed to be telling you all this, but i am, anyway.

thank God for bob marley. and earl grey tea. and my farting dog. they are helping maintain some sanity while i do what any simian with moderate dexterity could accomplish just as quickly as i can. finding out that lobbying was about as sexy as my policy job in dc was is kind of eye opening. talk about things not being what they appear to be. geeze oh man. i keep telling myself i'm not selling out for supplemental income, that i'm just collecting information. but i secretly don't believe that for a minute. i fear i am part of what my friends and i refer to as "the problem", and by that i mean special interest infiltration of our beloved/beloathed (is that a word? if not, it should be...) democracy. eww, sick out. on the other hand, i feel like the baby jesus doesn't want me to be in debt for the rest of my life, so this is ok, because i'm not doing anything against the law, his or the u s of a. i don't know. i do know that the lobby folks think i am a freaking genius and like the work i've already given them, so i guess that's good.

i'm going to the track this weekend, with the fam. it's the breeder's cup. mom and poppy have been doing their homework, so maybe we'll win some money. my grammy and i decided to avoid our homework, and follow our own method. it's highly scientific, and has paid off a number of times, large and small. we pick horses based on their names, and sometimes what color they are. and sometimes we just have a gut feeling, and bet on that horse. laugh if you want, but i made $92 on that method at the kentucky derby. so there.

the book is moving somewhat slowly, and that kind of makes me feel like a slacker. it's starting to diverge into two very separate projects. the graffitti book is my main focus, though. the other, which a few of you may have glanced at, is more of a collection of extended journal entries. i have no idea if i will do anything with that, because i don't know how readable it would be to most people. strong opinions abound in my cobwebby little brain, and i'm not sure if i spent the rest of my life trying, that i could explain everything i feel and think about the things i feel strongly about or spending time pondering. that sentence prolly doesn't make much sense, but i know what i mean.

ok, it's back to the lions' club and their freakishly slow server. i hope the kiwanis folks invested a little more in theirs...

peace out. word to your mother.

mil besos--r