8:56 AM Sven: you don’t approve of this project?

8:58 AM Argile: it’s sucking my time away like some sort of fiendish chronovacuum

 Sven: why?

  you feel compelled to post to it?

8:59 AM Argile: start reading the tropes

  they link like crazy and it’s just…. too hard to stop

9:03 AM Sven: yeah they are fun

9:07 AM Argile: i couldn’t stop

  it took an email to get me away

9:08 AM Sven: i’ve got subcontractors (againt) and my boss milling around, so i can only look at them for a minute or 2 at a time

9:09 AM Argile: but that’s just about perfect, bite-sized snacks of entertainment

 Sven: yeah, it’s cool

9:10 AM and i feel sneaky and ninja-like when stealing a read

  or saying something to you

9:38 AM Argile: wow, know what I love? improvisational speeches to boards of directors, that’s what

 Sven: did you just have to do that?

9:39 AM Argile: yes, yes I did

  president of my company walks in, says he’s on the board of a place we’re doing a site for, and can I come in and descibe what we’re doing, etc.

9:40 AM because the board’s meeting right then and there

  yay me!

9:41 AM Sven: nicely done

9:42 AM Argile: yeah, well, it’s still BS even if I do it well

9:44 AM and who’s the high points scorer for the week? Me.

  because I’m awesome.

9:45 AM Ronnie and I were talking and he said it was crap that he played the only person who beat him

9:46 AM Sven: yeah yeah, that was the story of my life for the first half of last season

9:47 AM and again, the football gods took pity on you for the ignominious end of the bears game

9:48 AM Argile: yeah, probably true. That was pretty bullshit that our super-QB sucked it up

  and our top defensive player is out for the season

 Sven: yeah that’s gotta hurt

9:52 AM Argile: oh well. just got news that the site my pres wants to show his board won’t be up because other people haven’t showed up at the office yet

 Sven: d’oh?

 Argile: which means, likely, that I’m going to get in trouble for something that’s no fault of mine

 Sven: that blows

  welcome to corporate life

9:55 AM and now the office is empty

  my boss will be running around the rest of the day, and the coworker is going to a bid-letting

9:57 AM Argile: joy of joys, eh?

  meeting at 10…

9:59 AM Sven: have fun

10:54 AM Argile: no I refuse to have fun. On principle. Fun and jobs don’t mix.

 Sven: that might not be the right attitude

10:55 AM you can dislike your current job, but do you plan on disliking all other jobs?

 Argile: yep. ebenezar scrooge is my hero.

 Sven: that’s admirable

10:58 AM interesting, there’s actually some cool-looking movies coming out in january

11:03 AM Argile: cool looking, yet likely crappy in execution

 Sven: possibly

11:04 AM book of eli-probably not as good as the trailer suggests

  daybreakers looks kinda sweet, though

  both have good casts, though

11:05 AM although, i guess book of eli having both gary oldman and mila kunis results in a wash between the two

11:06 AM Argile: kunis is cute though

 Sven: that she is

11:07 AM not entirely sure she belongs in the “post-apocalyptic thriller” genre, but oh well

  meanwhile, gary oldman and denzel washington kick a lot of ass

11:08 AM Argile: that’s true

  david lynch is on esquire’s 75 most wonderful persons list

 Sven: interesting

  not the sort of list i’d expect esquire to have, but that’s ok

11:13 AM Argile: it’s a list of people they’d want to have a drink with, and trust with a puppy

11:14 AM check it out.

 Sven: david lynch makes a list like that?

  the drink part i can see

11:21 AM Argile: http://www.esquire.com/features/best-people-1009?click=pp

11:24 AM Sven: aha

11:25 AM you said “most wonderful”

  no wonder my google search was fruitless

 Argile: you had to search google, even though you knew it was on esquire?

11:26 AM Sven: figured i’d skip a step

  the last thing you told me about on the esquire website i was unable to find

  and it would have been harder this time ‘cuz you gave me an erroneous list name

11:29 AM Argile: you, sir, need to expand your mind

 Sven: you’re not telling me to start doing drugs, are you?

11:35 AM Argile: couldn’t make things any worse

11:36 AM Sven: i’m not sure about that…

  drugs are expensive, doncha know

11:37 AM Argile: just get a paint can

11:38 AM Sven: erm, right

  i think this list of esquire’s is facetious

11:39 AM Argile: ?

 Sven: no way would i trust rupert murdoch with a puppy

11:42 AM Argile: you kidding? he’d probably make it another Fox news commentator

  it’d be smarter than the rest of them

11:43 AM Sven: i dunno, i think it’d be shitcanned like the rest if it didn’t build a shrine to Ronald Reagan in its doghouse

11:59 AM I’m going to eat lunch now though

 Sven: enjoy

Argile: blarg. anything interesting happen lately?

 Sven: ummm…nope

1:27 PM i turned down that trade offer from yesterday

  that’s about it

 Argile: thrilling

  yeah, I’ve had to make a couple of tough changes

1:28 PM though, of course, my stellar week 1 score should set the trend for my undeafeated fantasy season

 Sven: uh huh

1:29 PM i recall you were the juggernaut last year, too

  coasted to division champ with a nigh-unbeaten record

  how did that work out for you?

 Argile: sigh. one game.

  so much bs.

1:30 PM Sven: yeah, that’s how it goes in football, fantasy or otherwise

1:34 PM Argile: it’s alright, I judge a season by the record I have at the end anyway, and by that measure I’ve done pretty well

1:35 PM Sven: shy of winning a superbowl, that’s the next best metric

1:40 PM Argile: purty much

1:41 PM Sven: so my cousin pledged SAE, which resulted in me getting an fb invite to an SAE party on saturday

1:45 PM kinda relieved to be out of town this weekend

1:49 PM Argile: woot! SAE!

 Sven: uh, yeah

1:50 PM part of me thinks it’d be fun, in the weird hollywood sense, to relive college with frat antics as a staple

  but only in the “ripped straight from a bad teen movie” sense

1:52 PM Argile: and who among us hasn’t wanted to live through a bad teen movie?

1:53 PM Sven: no one i know

1:57 PM Argile: exactly.

1:58 PM Sven: people in those movies seem to be pretty much tripping over top-shelf, morally flexible tail

1:59 PM Argile: and soon you will be, too

2:00 PM Sven: right…if only

  knowing my luck, i probably would literally trip over one of them and break my glasses

2:03 PM busy day for you, i take it?

 Argile: no, not really

  just reading news

2:04 PM Sven: but of course

2:05 PM Argile: I’m so bored, and I don’t have the programs that would let me learn cool things

2:06 PM Sven: one wonders from wher e you draw the strength to carry on

2:10 PM Argile: hell if I know

  life’s rough, man, let me tell you

2:11 PM Sven: no doubt

2:21 PM Argile: I also did some salary research, that job in Boston would actually pay = or less than what I’m making here

  there’s more in terms of career growth out there, but at first it’d be tight

2:22 PM Sven: aha

  so what’d you decide?

2:23 PM Argile: I’ll stay here for the moment

  I have a better shot getting a good job with that place in minneapolis or Mayo

2:24 PM Sven: and you won’t have to leave the wonderful midwest

2:26 PM Argile: oh yeah, because that was high up on my list

2:27 PM Sven: yeah, we all know you’re too cool for the midwest

2:29 PM Argile: bet your ass I am

2:30 PM Sven: you’re gonna wind up living in Missour-ah

  calling it now

2:34 PM Argile: if I have to, hello st louis

 Sven: no, i think they call it Missouri

2:35 PM you’ll be in the missour-ah part of the state

2:37 PM Argile: then I’d better be rich with a gigantic mansion in beautiful country

  or teaching at Columbia

2:38 PM Sven: good, you keep up that optimism

2:40 PM Argile: well, if I’m in central missouri in neither of those situations, odds are I’ll have a bottle of moonshine in one hand, a dumb blonde wife in the other, and a bunch of kids to kick around

  not a completely horrible life

 Sven: way to stay positive

  props on the child-beating

2:42 PM Argile: hey, as a father it’s my job to make sure my children are never as good as me

2:43 PM Sven: but you have to ensure that they keep trying to live up to your impossible standards

2:44 PM Argile: yeah, good point, and then I’ll whisper that I love them as they lay dying outside of the burning wreckage that is their car on prom night

 Sven: that should make up for everything

2:47 PM should your daughter make it out alive, she’ll simply wind up an enormous slut

  which will in turn make the world a better place for the various men that come into her sphere of contact

2:48 PM and then, through the magic of STD’s, thin out the gene pool and reduce human population by that same number of guys

2:51 PM Argile: so you’re saying I’m some sort of cleaning agent for humanity thanks to my inevitably damaged offspring?

 Sven: that’s the most positive spin i can put on it, yes

  provided those same guys die prior to spreading the disease

2:52 PM or diseases, as the case will likely be

 Argile: ok

3:23 PM Sven: anything to look forward to after work?

 Argile: nope

  more computer stuff actually

3:30 PM Argile: who needs guns!? http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-sword0915,0,4027961.story

3:32 PM Sven: that’s pretty hardcore

  if/when he gets out of jail, that guy’ll be drowning in semi-nerdy, anime-crazed tail

3:33 PM Argile: yeah, not sure how you’d go about living with that though

  sure, the guy was a scumbag, but to “nearly sever” his hand??

  talk about traumatic

3:34 PM Sven: that would be horrible

  but then he killed him, so at least he didn’t have to live crippled

3:36 PM Argile: good point, because who wants to live crippled when you could be dead?

Sven: exactly

3:37 PM yeah, it’d be some heavy to shit to know you killed a man with a sword

3:38 PM but then, you went to the henhouse to investigate a noise with a freakin’ sword

  what did you think you’d do with it?

3:39 PM Argile: shave?

3:40 PM Sven: fair enough

  after the fact, i guess you can look at it as either, “i just killed a man, and i feel terrible”…

  or

3:41 PM “i killed a bastard with a sword in self defense!”

  optional “i’m hardcore!” followup statement

3:44 PM Argile: no, see, he should have cut a small scar into his own arm

  1

  that way, he could just add more notches as he kills more

 Sven: that would also be pretty hardcore

3:45 PM Argile: and then he could’ve licked the blade clean

 Sven: well, yeah

3:46 PM i was thinking in terms of hindsight

  your suggestions would have made it more badass at the time

  i’m simply saying afterwords, he can either succumb to his loss of humanity or embrace the badassness of his actions

3:48 PM Argile: true, true

  or, he could get a translucent cell-phone http://www.engadget.com/tag/pureness

 Sven: very smooth segue

3:49 PM Argile: smooth like the broken remnants of nuked new york

 Sven: quoi?

3:50 PM Argile: eh, nothin, just accentuating your comparison

3:51 PM Sven: with a largely indecipherable simile?

3:55 PM Argile: pretty much

3:56 PM Sven: very good then

 Argile: but at least it wasn’t this: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0915091hotdate1.html

3:58 PM Sven: some of those hooker’s look don’t look too bad

  some are pretty fugly, though

3:59 PM whoa

  and one ’em definitely took a money shot to the eye

4:00 PM Argile: read the intro “Two of them were pregnant”

 Sven: yeah, i saw that

  but you know, i’m sure some guys are into that

4:01 PM Argile: yeah, the worlds a little f-ed up sometimes

 Sven: mos def

4:05 PM but it is the world’s oldest industry

  ain’t goin’ away any time soon

4:18 PM Sven: well, i’m outta here

  gotta go do homework now…booo

Sven: that’s unfortunate

guess i’ll be amusing myself today, eh?

9:29 AM Argile: well, I’ve got a meeting at 10, then bww, but this afternoon will be grunt work so I’ll be here then, you can talk to Wulgar.

Sven: uh, great

9:32 AM Argile: hey, you know I’m just trying to expand your social life

9:34 AM Sven: otherwise i’m just a few steps away from running off to the alaskan wilderness, growing a bushy beard, and living off of grubs for the rest of my life

9:36 AM Argile: please don’t do that

I fully expect you to prepare my taxes every year for the rest of my life

9:37 AM because I also expect you to outlive me by a considerable margin

Sven: well, that last part may be a tad optimistic

9:40 AM Argile: yeah, that’s true, my plan will likely kill us both

9:41 AM Sven: but, the circumstances of your death will likely result in government seizure of all your assets

so at least you won’t have estate taxes to worry about

9:47 AM Argile: yeah, but that’s assuming there’s still a government… which means my plan won’t work

Sven: well, if your plan results in our untimely deaths, i’d like to think that’s also an indication that the plan didn’t work

9:48 AM Argile: eh, true…

9:49 AM I’m more about the timely deaths

Sven: ah

the plan is for us to die after the plan comes to fruition?

9:51 AM Argile: well, preferably after years of enjoying our success

Sven: ah

well, ok then

9:52 AM Argile: did you read about obama’s speech?

Sven: you sent me an article about it yesterday

Argile: about those bastards who acted like little, whiny children?

he gave a speech last night to the country

Sven: oh that

um, didn’t read much about it

Argile: go to ccn.com

*cnn.com

9:53 AM they heckled him during his speech, incorrectly, as though this was some sort of town hall meeting or something

9:54 AM Sven: oh yeah, i did hear about that

Argile: I don’t recall dems ever calling bush a moron to his face while he spouted “strategery”

Sven: which, i’d argue, would’ve taken a lot more restraint

9:55 AM Argile: yeah

9:56 AM These are people who largely came from good institutions, who live to give speeches, and represent our country, and yet they can’t handle sitting around and being polite for 30 minutes

10:00 AM Sven: it’s pretty childish

it’s like something out of Liar Liar

“your honor i object”

“why?”

“‘cuz it’s devastating to my case!”

10:02 AM but you’re in a meeting now

10:42 AM Argile: yes, yes I was

these things happen

10:47 AM here’s a present: http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/not-photoshopped-incredible-forced-perspective-photography/14968

10:48 AM Sven: neat

10:49 AM Argile: the fact that none of those photos were manipulated is even cooler

10:50 AM Sven: it is pretty impressive

Argile: I’m all about the banana one

10:51 AM Sven: that would be fun to have a deathmatch on top of a giant banana

10:57 AM Argile: I’m surprised more shooters haven’t taken advantage of fruit-based levels

11:01 AM Sven: i can honestly say that i’m a little surprised by that too

considering some of the other crackhead shit that gets put into videogames

11:03 AM Argile: well yeah… I mean, you remember that timesplitters game from freshman year?

the one that had monkeys and stuff?

11:04 AM Sven: yep

pretty inspired lunacy

11:05 AM Argile: there hasn’t been one since, even though it did very well

there’s totally room for more games that let you play as a snowman with a flamethrower

11:06 AM Sven: that would kick ass

11:07 AM Argile: exactly. Who cares about being your average soldier with an m16 shooting average terrorists with ak-47s when you can have acid-spitting llama deathmatches on the moon?

Sven: programmers just have no imagination anymore

11:09 AM Argile: see, if you or I actually learned how to program, we’d make some pretty sweet stuff

11:10 AM Sven: that would be embarrassing, to be shown up by an accountant on video game design

11:11 AM Argile: yeah, just a little bit

you’d probably be good at the programming though, it’s basically math with variables

11:18 AM Sven: might take a little getting used to

Argile: like anything else, you just have to ask yourself if you want to take it on as a hobby

11:19 AM for instance, most nights now I spend an hour running through a photoshop/illustrator tutorial while watching netflix

I’m learning some cool stuff that’ll probably have an impact on my career

11:20 AM of course, relating programming to accounting is more difficult

Sven: yeah…can’t see any connections offhand, anyway

11:21 AM Argile: well, one thing would be programming xcel, or your own programs to carry out mathematical functions

11:22 AM or, say, getting a job working for TurboTax or something

11:24 AM Sven: i dunno, maybe

i’m pretty good at using excel at this point

11:25 AM Argile: well, let’s say you want to calculate fees, taxes, etc, so you program a function that has you enter, say, 3 -4 numbers and then it spits out an entire spreadsheet of data for you

this isn’t really the type of programming we were talking about, though, but it’s a start

11:26 AM although really, the main argument at this point would be if you wanted to learn it for yourself

Sven: right

11:37 AM Argile: so, really, the question is… are you man enough to program?

11:38 AM Sven: probably not

i am most definitely mouse

Argile: sigh

evan, it takes millions of dollars and years to shoot a movie

11:39 AM two people with an idea and minimal programming skill can create one hell of a game

11:40 AM Sven: probably true

although, just shooting a movie only takes a month or two

11:41 AM more if you’re doing the LOTR 3-movies-at-once thing

11:42 AM Argile: what I’m getting at here, though, is that our ability to make a whimsical, profitable game for, say, the Iphone within a year is much greater than our chances of pulling together a huge movie set

Sven: very true

11:43 AM Argile: see what I’m getting at here? Spending some free time learning a skill that could become a fun source of extra income might be worth it

11:44 AM Sven: possibly

11:45 AM although i would like to invite you to take on 6 credit hours of post-graduate classes on top of your full-time job and then see how motivated you are to spend time learning a completely new skill

11:51 AM Argile: I’m not saying it’s easy, or that you have to do it right now

or that you ever have to do it

Sven: i’m aware of that

11:52 AM Argile: I’m just sayin’ that on a lazy saturday afternoon you might want to try a very simple thing and see if it’s interesting at all

11:53 AM Sven: i might look into it at some point

11:55 AM Argile: who knows, might like it, or find it easy… you know me, though, I have to keep pushing people

Sven: yep, it is your calling

or, one of them

11:59 AM Argile: yeah, though admittedly my desire to push people is because I wanna know people with useful skills

12:06 PM Argile: wings time

1:31 PM Argile: and, 16 wings later, I’m feeling pretty good

1:32 PM Sven: i should hope so

1:33 PM Argile: This afternoon will be a mixture of awesome after-taste and dentyne ice, I think

1:43 PM Sven: sounds tasty

1:49 PM Argile: oh, it is

1:54 PM Sven: i’m still takin’ it easy on the food after this past weekend

Argile: oh yeah, this was the first time I’ve used my card since sunday

not counting gas

1:55 PM Sven: RIGHT

oops, left caps lock on again

1:56 PM but yeah, i’ve just been keeping the portions smaller in general the last few days

could feel myself starting to get a bit paunchy

Argile: lol

it happens

1:57 PM omgwtf – it’s teh mnster of gnrality! http://bit.ly/yJtzB

sorry, I felt the urge to use moron-speak

1:58 PM Sven: that also happens

2:00 PM i’ll bet whoever writes that blog feels very intelligent and superior

despite the fact that he just put a monster metaphor onto a basic middle school-level message

2:01 PM Argile: really? I felt it was an in-depth discussion of advanced financial principles

enhanced by the addition of a murderous creature

2:02 PM Sven: well you say “tomato”, and all that

2:08 PM Argile: you know what’s helped me a lot over the years? Typing of the Dead, that’s what

2:09 PM Sven: enhanced your typing skills, has it?

2:15 PM Argile: oh, most definitely

Sven: yeah, i’ve found i’ve also gotten pretty damn fast with a 10-key

2:16 PM it’s kinda fun to see how quickly i can enter in numbers in a row on a spreadsheet

which my job actually calls for, like right now

so, you know, i’m not just frivolously typing numbers

2:21 PM Argile: uh huh

Sven: well, typing numbers fast isn’t impressive unless you have a list of them

Argile: I think you just sit there with notepad open and type pie’s digits all day

Sven: hmmm

i might actually start doing that

see how much of pi i can memorize

2:22 PM Argile: and you don’t want to learn programming?

Sven: i’m joking

2:24 PM Argile: except… not really

2:27 PM Sven: no, i’m really not planning on memorizing pi

2:28 PM Argile: http://www.sitepro.com/index.cfm/event/blog.entry/entryId/246/

let me know if it sucks

2:32 PM Sven: nope, doesn’t suck

2:36 PM Argile: score

speaking of excel, I’ve got 10,000 parts to enter now. hurrah!

2:37 PM Sven: fun

2:39 PM i’ve got a computer screen to stare at for a while, i suppose

2:41 PM Argile: sigh, well, I can’t use the 1st CD

all the information is in InDesign files, which, of course, is a program I don’t have here…

Sven: uh oh

2:42 PM Argile: I’m hoping they have the squirrel baffle as a pdf crosses fingers

whoa

2:43 PM putting asterisks on either side of a phrase bolds it, apparently

Sven: i was wondering waht was going on there

heehee…squirrel baffle

that’s just a downright amusing combination of words

2:45 PM Argile: well, never mind. My afternoon plans are shot now

Sven: d’oh?

2:46 PM Argile: well, their entire product catalog is in a file format I can’t open on this computer

2:47 PM guess it means I’ll be doing some homework tonight…

Sven: d’oh!

2:50 PM Argile: well, football game is on… so…

2:51 PM Sven: yeah, i’m gonna miss a lot of it

is it on network TV?

Argile: nfl network actually

so I might be beaming it over the internet..

Sven: dammit

2:52 PM guess i’ll be missing the whole damn thing

Argile: lol, sports bar?

2:53 PM hit up jethros with maurice

actually, maurice has directtv, he might get it

Sven: oh yeah

i’ll have to head his way after class

2:55 PM Argile: problem solved

2:56 PM Sven: and there was much rejoicing

3:01 PM Argile: tell me about it

I just benched Roethlisberger

I’m playin’ ronnie, he’s got Ten. D and I’ve got Pit’s

3:02 PM Sven: hmm

i’m playing bob, and i’m already faced with that dilemma of being in 2 leagues at the same time

bob has aaron rodgers, while i have rodgers in my other league

sonofabitch

Argile: lol

always sucks when that happens

3:03 PM thing is though, you just have to play the best lineup in each league

if your other players make up the difference, great

Sven: yep

plus, the other league has money riding on it

Argile: well, then it’s a no-breainer

speaking of no brains…

3:04 PM Sven: george romero’s releasing yet another zombie movie?

first horror movie to be presented in 70 years at cannes, or whichever film fest he’s releasing it

3:05 PM Argile: meh.

They’ve become so derivative and formulaic

3:06 PM looking forward to 9 this weekend though

Sven: didn’t that come out yesterday?

3:07 PM Argile: yeah, but I’m going to take my parents to it

mom likes to see movies at theaters, and there hasn’t been anything recently

Sven: that is true

you’re taking your parents?

like, you’re paying?

3:10 PM Argile: oh, I won’t pay, but they’ll appreciate me getting them out

Sven: ah

3:13 PM any other crazy plans for the weekend?

3:20 PM Argile: going to find a better place to look for girls in this town

Wulfgar and I are going to tap our connections, see what’s out and about

Sven: you’re giving up on booze street?

3:30 PM Argile: that place is so dismally depressing

it’s fun with a group of people

or if you’re hunting for one night stands

but when you’re trying to find a decent girl… not gonna happen

aren’t you coming up this weekend?

3:31 PM or is that in a week?

Sven: that’s the weekend after this one

18th-20th

3:33 PM Argile: gotcha

3:34 PM lol check out the batshit-crazy people I meet on twitter: http://www.movinglightgallery.com/

3:36 PM Sven: the language on that site kinda makes me feel like vomiting

3:41 PM Argile: yeah, i read the first few words and clicked away

3:50 PM Argile: a voice of reason in a troubled, troubled world: http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/davenport/2009/09/are_social_media_contributing.html

3:52 PM Sven: yeah…not that it’ll do any good

3:53 PM Argile: well, yeah, when crap like this is happening: http://mondegreen2.livejournal.com/

3:54 PM things like this simultaneously depress me, yet make me hopeful about our chances of being published

3:58 PM Sven: i actually started to nod off while reading it

4:00 PM Argile: it’s pretty horrible

4:05 PM Argile: my god, 1.49 billion shares of stock were traded today

4:06 PM Sven: that’s many

4:09 PM Argile: http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/09/the_12_most_awesomely_nerdy_breakfast_cereals.php

4:10 PM Sven: mmmm…cereal

4:11 PM Argile: Urkle-Os!

Sven: that seems like an SNL commercial

Argile: yeah, it really does

4:12 PM Sven: well, it’s another class day for me

and i’m alone in the office right now, so there’s really nothing keeping me here

talk to ya tomorrow

 Sven:  nope

in fact, the office is empty except for me right now

I know my boss has meetings all morning

you?

 Argile:  I’ve got a meeting at 10:30, some random stuff to do all day

 Sven:  nothing pressing?

 Argile:  not really

 Sven:  cool

or not, depends I guess

I’m kinda tired today, so I’m fine with not having much to do

 Sent at 8:07 AM on Friday

 Argile:  oh yeah? up to wild things last night?

 Sven:  you know it

met my cousin at a hookah bar, but I didn’t partake there

and then it was dublin after that

helped his rather naive girlfriend of 1 week get in

ran into stacey

she made me promise to call her

 Sent at 8:10 AM on Friday

 Argile:  lol, helped your cousin’s girlfriend of one week?

he’s already got one, huh?

 Sent at 8:12 AM on Friday

 Sven:  yeah, he’s definitely a smooth operator

she’s pretty damn cute

 Argile:  solid

maybe he can hook you up?

 Sven:  he seems to think he can

I declined last night, but I may take him up on his offer later this year

 Sent at 8:16 AM on Friday

 Argile:  don’t decline, but be discerning

for every dopey girl out there, I’m sure there are a bunch roughly like us, smart people just having fun for the night

so, whomever he introduces you to could be someone really cool

 Sven:  yep, I’ll bear that in mind

just, last night I was in no position to be putting forth the effort to score a hookup or whatever

I was there to chill w/my cousin, and I’d had a really long day

and I still had to come to work today

 Sent at 8:20 AM on Friday

 Argile:  true, true

I was out w/ Kaylee and some other ppl till 1

so I’m a little zonked too

 Sven:  would expect nothing less

 Argile:  yeah, yeah

your derision has been noted

 Sven:  I have no idea what you’re talking about

 Sent at 8:23 AM on Friday

 Argile:  I remind you that I’m coming down next week and I do so enjoy a good revenge

 Sven:  duly noted

 Sent at 8:26 AM on Friday

 Argile:  Another critical debate for our times: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/08/great-geek-debates-stormtrooper-vs-redshirt/

 Sent at 8:27 AM on Friday

 Argile:  also, view the results. Stormtrooper by a landslide!

 Sent at 8:30 AM on Friday

 Sven:  that’s the second time this guy has sided with Trek over Wars

 Sent at 8:31 AM on Friday

 Argile:  yeah… and his reasoning isn’t all that great this time

not sayin’ that stormtroopers are all that great, but the empire took over the galaxy somehow

 Sven:  not to mention, they had no problem hitting unimportant characters

 Argile:  true

 Sven:  it was just main characters that they couldn’t shoot to save their lives

 Argile:  and since I doubt a redshirt ever shot a major trek villain, you might say the same rule applies to them

Sent at 8:45 AM on Friday

 Sven:  I just made labels for 14 envelopes

that was a bit tedious

 Sent at 8:48 AM on Friday

 Argile:  woo!

working hard today, huh?

 Sven:  today, and every day

I’m not alone in the office anymore, so I can’t fall asleep at my desk

kind of a bummer

 Sent at 8:50 AM on Friday

 Sven:  so how’s the weekend looking for you?

 Sent at 8:52 AM on Friday

 Argile:  well, it’s Kaylee’s last weekend in town, so I might have to make a move just on principle

I’m going to tone down on the drinking though, I want to stop pre-gaming before going out

booze is so cheap here that, unlike dsm, I wind up getting much more once I’m actually out

 Sven:  good notion

 Argile:  not like I’ve been getting drunk or anything

but I’ve still been having late, fuzzy mornings

 Sven:  no good

Sent at 9:01 AM on Friday

 Argile:  also, college kids are back in town, which means rampant craziness

there was someone dressed in a pig costume last night

 Sven:  like ya do

 Argile:  yeah, and the cops were having fun

 Sven:  oh I’m sure

see anyone get tasered?

Sent at 9:04 AM on Friday

 Argile:  nah, just some shirtless guys getting taken away and flashing cherries and berries on every street corner

 Sven:  how tame

 Sent at 9:09 AM on Friday

 Argile:  yeah

I’m sure it’ll improve

 Sent at 9:10 AM on Friday

 Sven:  it’s to be hoped

 Sent at 9:12 AM on Friday

 Argile:  but, more importantly, it means the utter availability of college girls

 Sven:  that is important

 Argile:  and wow, does it feel strange to say that

 Sven:  yeah…you’ve become one of “those guys”

 Sent at 9:15 AM on Friday

 Argile:  not quite

if I were 5 years older, definitely

I’m still college-age, and I have a job, but I don’t have a kid

so I’m not quite creepy

 Sven:  knockin’ on the door…

 Sent at 9:18 AM on Friday

 Argile:  says the guy who might use his younger cousin as a source for poon

 Sven:  hey, I said “might”

that’s if a couple other things don’t pan out

Sent at 9:21 AM on Friday

 Argile:  couple of other things?

 Sven:  yep

 Sent at 9:25 AM on Friday

 Argile:  elaboration not forthcoming, I assume?

 Sven:  I’m thinkin’ about it

see how frustrating it is when people you think are your friends withhold info?

 Sent at 9:28 AM on Friday

 Sven:  that bitter tangy taste you are experiencing is a little flavor I like to call “your own medicine”

bwahahahahaha

 Argile:  meh

I’m taking a mafia quiz, so I’m not too concerned

http://popurls.com/go/howstuffworks.com/lda4ce02a84798092c580c157c895800b

see, the problem with keeping information from me is that I quickly lose interest

 Sven:  fair enough

 Argile:  not that I don’t care or anything, just that if it isn’t immediately going to impact my well-being, I’m not going to push it

 Sven:  uh huh

but inside, you’re still curious

your self-control of that curiosity is admirable

 Sent at 9:32 AM on Friday

 Argile:  well, when you have this to look at, it’s not hard to repress other things: http://www.tofslie.com/hey/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/popeye-590×442.jpg

Sent at 9:36 AM on Friday

 Sven:  meh, 6 out of 10 on the mafia quiz

and that popeye thing is a truly disturbing image

 Sent at 9:37 AM on Friday

 Argile:  beat me on the mafia thing, and yes, I agree that popeye is a freakish thing

 Sven:  I’ll probably have nightmares tonight

 Sent at 9:41 AM on Friday

 Argile:  nope, because you’re such a ladies’ man that you’ll spend tonight wide awake and loving it

 Sent at 9:42 AM on Friday

 Sven:  um, I don’t think I quite have the stones to go find a girl while visiting my grandparents and bring her back to their place for the night

 Argile:  lol

that would be amazing

 Sven:  that would be

 Argile:  where are your grandparents?

 Sven:  S*****.  my brother and his wife are stopping there for the weekend on their way to duluth

so I’m gonna go hang with them for the weekend

 Sent at 9:46 AM on Friday

 Sven:  get me some good cookin’

 Argile:  nice.

Sent at 9:59 AM on Friday

Argile:  brb

 Sent at 12:06 PM on Friday

 Argile:  had to secure pizza for dinner tonight

 Sven:  pizza is secured?

 Sent at 12:21 PM on Friday

 Argile:  parents normally get pizza on fridays

if I call soon enough, sometimes they’ll get me one

Also, I dare you not to burst into inappropriate hilariously laughter: http://www.cracked.com/blog/ted-kennedy-the-movie/

 Sent at 12:33 PM on Friday

 Sven:  wow that’s…I don’t even know to call that

seems like string reminiscent of the “don’t even reply” guy

 Sent at 12:40 PM on Friday

 Argile:  yeah, but on a level above wackiness

that picture, with JFK, and the robot in the background is great

 Sven:  yeah, the pics were pretty sweet

 Sent at 12:42 PM on Friday

 Sven:  have I ever told you about our problem here with getting wrong numbers constantly from people looking for the same wrong company?

we get at least 2 or 3 calls a day from someone looking for Dana Corp

 Sent at 12:46 PM on Friday

 Sven:  anyway, I kinda feel like prank calling them a few times a day so they get a taste of what we constantly deal with ‘cuz our phone numbers are 1 digit apart

 Sent at 12:48 PM on Friday

 Argile:  hahaha, I recently had to deal with a “Romance Messages” text spammer

who insisted I owed them $10 to receive romance messages

 Sven:  that’d be pretty irritating

 Argile:  yeah, but what annoyed me more was that they were able to actually put this on my account somehow

 Sven:  I suppose your parents saw that?

 Argile:  oh, no

this happened a couple of days ago, and I talked to Sprint and they took it off

 Sven:  ah

that must have been fun

 Argile:  but what was worse is that the message I got was stupid anyway

it suggested sharing food at dinner to create more intimacy

whoopee

 Sven:  how helpful

 Argile:  anyone who’s watched Lady and the Tramp knows that trick

I’m going to be doing a bunch of data entry, so I’ll be in and out here

 Sven:  okeydokey

I’m gonna be doin’ a whole lotta nothing

but I’ll probably also be leaving a little after 3 today

 S

ent at 1:11 PM on Friday

 Argile:  yeah, I recommend just bouncing around cracked, it’s pretty funny stuff

 Sent at 1:12 PM on Friday

 Argile:  and, of course, my data entry involves gmail

 Sven:  right on

 Argile:  yeah, but it involves creating new accounts for ppl

I’m trying to trick google, and it’s not completely working

 Sven:  I see

google is wily

Sent at 1:21 PM on Friday

 Argile:  well, google hates me now

 Sven:  uh oh

I recommend groveling

 Argile:  it called me a spammer and won’t let me create more accounts

 Sven:  bwahahahaha

I mean, I’m sorry to hear that

so, you’re trying to create accounts for work?

Sent at 2:13 PM on Friday

 Argile:  well, a bunch of our older clients have older stat-tracking things

so we need to update those

to google analytics

 Sven:  so what will you do now?

 Argile:  and, of course, we have a company profile that we’ve been using to host all of these reports

for all of our sites – but to prevent one client from seeing another client’s stats, we can’t give them administrator access

you know, if they’re administrators for our account, they could see everyones

so we’ve been restricting them to “view” the reports

but that limits customization and other options, plus it means they have to go through us to change anything

so we wanted to create independent accounts for each site so that they could do their own thing

get it?

 Sven:  I think I follow you

 Argile:  however, because several of us were creating gmail accounts for these clients

and it looked to google like all the requests were coming from the same location (sitepro)

it thinks we’re spamming it with new accounts

 Sven:  hmm

that’s a pickle

Sent at 2:24 PM on Friday

 Argile:  yes, yes it is

 Sent at 2:29 PM on Friday

 Argile:  bwahahaha

I don’t know if you remember, but I took a test last semester

for Drake that was a critical writing assesment

 Sent at 2:52 PM on Friday

 Argile:  that they use to measure education nationwide

 Sven:  I don’t remember that

just got your results back?

 Argile:  it was only for a randomly chosen 15 kids

yeah

top 4% in the country biatch

 Sven:  well, congrats

it’s a good thing you’re the last person who’d ever have ego issues

 Argile:  oh, you bet your ass I’m gonna be parading this one around

 Sven:  how could you not?

put that on your business cards

 Sent at 2:56 PM on Friday

 Argile:  tattoo it onto my forehead

 Sven:  that’d be subtle

 Sent at 3:02 PM on Friday

 Argile:  and I’ll put it on my t-shirts, and record a ring-tone with me stating my awesomeness

put it in my email signature, facebook profile

and hire a skywriter to write it over NYC

 Sven:  these are all excellent ideas

and, whatever the results of them, I’m sure that one of them wouldn’t be you getting punched in the throat

 Argile:  I’m sure I’ll get on CNN

 Sven:  they’ll be calling you any moment

 Argile:  actually, now that I know just how awesome I am, I plan to drink until I return to average

wouldn’t wanna be all superior

 Sent at 3:06 PM on Friday

 Sven:  I like this plan

 Argile:  2 hours till the starting gun goes off

 Sven:  neat

I’ll be bored on the road until about 7, feel free to drunk dial

Sent at 8:56 AM on Wednesday

Sven: yeah, that was a bummer

last Kennedy standing

Sent at 9:00 AM on Wednesday

Argile: well, if Schwarzenegger has a son somewhere, he’s technically a kennedy

Sven: yeah…i guess i meant from his generation

usually kennedies are supposed to die young and violent

Sent at 9:04 AM on Wednesday

Argile: yeah, good point

I’ve got training every wed. and thurs. for the next couple of weeks, from 8 – 9:30 or so

it’s for staff, not just fo rme

Sven: fun

Argile: which means the majority of it will be redundant and annoying

Sven: double fun

Sent at 9:07 AM on Wednesday

Sven: so i take it training got done early today?

Sent at 9:09 AM on Wednesday

Argile: it was orientation sort of stuff

Sven: gotcha

heh, you have training wed and thurs, i have class wed and thurs

funny how that worked out

Sent at 9:11 AM on Wednesday

Argile: yeah, except I’m getting paid for my classes

Sven: shaddap

Argile: and I don’t have homework

Sent at 9:15 AM on Wednesday

Sven: yeah yeah yeah

Sent at 9:17 AM on Wednesday

Sven: so i ended up having to miss Rescue Me last night

Sent at 9:20 AM on Wednesday

Argile: because you were out with a smokin’ babe?

Sven: uh…yeah

if by that you mean, one of my roommate’s friends had some coupons for free bowling

i bowled a 118 and a 187, so i was happy

the 187 included 4 strikes in a row, so that was pretty friggin’ awesome

Argile: nicely done

Sven: thank you

i don’t suppose you ever ran into Anita Bonavita at college?

she was the one with the free bowling what-have-you, and she was  in the J-school

Sent at 9:25 AM on Wednesday

Argile: nope, she seems older than us

Sven: yeah, she is

she knew billy, so i figured i’d run it up the flag pole

Sent at 9:30 AM on Wednesday

Argile: yep, but I didn’t know many older students in the j-school

they keep that place pretty rigid in terms of classes

Sven: gotcha

no big deal, just curious

Sent at 9:32 AM on Wednesday

Sven: anyway, the important thing to take from this is that i got a turkey+1

Sent at 9:36 AM on Wednesday

Argile: an achievement to be proud of, definitely

Sven: so, any crazy shenanigans for you last night?

Sent at 9:39 AM on Wednesday

Argile: well, I was exhausted, so I was plannin’ on taking it easy

then, Katie calls and wants to go to the gym, so I go do that

then I’m relaxing, doing some reading and at 11:30 I get a call from a couple of people down at a bar who are too messed up to drive

so, after making clear that this is a one-shot deal, I wind up driving their punk-asses home

though it was pretty hilarious watching this girl stumble around her apartment in search of drugs

she was bouncing off of walls, into door frames, etc. She lit some incense and basically dropped it on the carpet, so I had to rescue that thing

Sven: wow

at what point does one finally say “i’m getting too old for this kinda shit”

Sent at 9:46 AM on Wednesday

Argile: I already have, the girl who has been causing these issues is now in Europe for 6 months

these two ppl decided to move back to town last week

they don’t have jobs, just doing the drinking and applying thing

Sven: how responsible of them

do i know either of them?

Argile: you remember that christy girl?

Sven: her?

Argile: ja

Sven: then that’s a yes

if memory serves, she’s kind of a psycho

Sent at 9:50 AM on Wednesday

Argile: yeah, there’s not much left of her

she’s in the “does so many drugs she forgets to eat” camp

Sven: that’s pretty dangerous

her parents must be so proud

Sent at 9:52 AM on Wednesday

Argile: yeah, they’re college professors, I think they’re still doing the “deny, deny, deny”

Sven: a very healthy method of dealing with issues

Sent at 9:55 AM on Wednesday

Argile: I use that all the time when it comes to things like bills

Sent at 10:03 AM on Wednesday

Sven: I never really liked paying bills…I don’t think I’m gonna do that anymore either

Sent at 10:05 AM on Wednesday

Argile: And I’m totally trashing the copier

Sent at 10:06 AM on Wednesday

Sven: sorry that took so long, my boss starting talking to me

Argile: it’s alright

“The average cell-phone customer in Sweden and Finland pay $11 or $12 a month” for their cellphones

sigh.

Sven: depression

Argile: Good article though: http://bit.ly/12PnG1

Sent at 10:30 AM on Wednesday

Argile: You know what’s fun? adding email contacts because I’m bored, that’s what’s fun

Sent at 10:45 AM on Wednesday

Sven: sounds like a real riot

Sent at 11:02 AM on Wednesday

Sven: i was just on a phone call w/my boss and a guy from fleetmatics, does GPS/equipment usage tracking

my boss is really interested in this, so i’ve been busy going over this stuff with him

kinda cool stuff you can do with it, really

sends an email notification if a truck or machine has been idling for longer than x minutes

notification if a machine or truck leaves a certain unauthorized radius

Sent at 11:05 AM on Wednesday

Argile: yeah, because nothing raises company morale more than “I will be tracking your every move”

Sven: well, when you’re hemmhoraging cash, not much you can do

Sent at 11:08 AM on Wednesday

Sven: looking at our costs, and how much this program would cost…

their estimate is that this saves 10-20% on fuel costs

even at just 10%, it pays for itself plus $200 a month above

Argile: so it tells you that the truck is still idling, then you call the person to shut it off?

Sven: yep

Argile: is it you that gets to monitor this?

Sven: probably

but actually, my boss likes this so much, it sounds like he’ll get a kick out of calling a field guy and telling him his machine’s been idling too long

Sent at 11:14 AM on Wednesday

Argile: k, just remember that the time spent monitoring and reacting to the issues eats into the cost as well

Sven: sure…but consider how little i have to do around here…

Sent at 11:16 AM on Wednesday

Sven: if anything, it increases utilization of me

Sent at 11:17 AM on Wednesday

Sven: an asset that is currently under-utilized

although no one here is aware of that

Sent at 11:18 AM on Wednesday

Argile: yeah, probably wanna keep it that way, too

Sven: that’s the plan

anyway, if you think about it, this no more invasive of employee privacy than monitoring internet usage

Sent at 11:21 AM on Wednesday

Argile: woo! numbers! http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1114

and yes, I’m essentially choosing to abandon our previous conversation

my ADD whimsy has led me onto more shiny things

also, monitoring internet usage can be hacked/defended against if the person knows better

Sven: which makes that “violation” of privacy more acceptable

Sent at 11:37 AM on Wednesday

Sven: you must be very tickled with that mac/pc article

Argile: just a little bit

Sven: my computer runs tiger

and i bought it before 2007

Argile: so you’re screwed?

Sven: i would be if i was planning on upgrading to snow leopard

as it is, i’m going to be buying a new computer anyway

eventually

Argile: also cool, I found a way to stream video through PS3 to TV from PC

Sven: that’s a lot of stuff involved in that stream

Argile: yeah, and you might think it’s pointless as the PS3 can play DVDs

Sven: but i’d be wrong?

Argile: but remember that netflix (and only a very limited version) runs only on xbox

well, yeah, the video stream carries plenty of data, but no more than what’s already streaming towards your computer

Sven: netflix only runs on xbox?

Argile: microsoft paid for exclusivity

which basically means that there’s a netflix app for the xbox while there isn’t one for ps3

Sent at 11:43 AM on Wednesday

Argile: however, streaming movies on xbox is heavily restricted: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/05/upcoming-netflix-update-on-xbox-360-is-still-gimped-microsoft/

Sent at 11:44 AM on Wednesday

Argile: not to mention that the service I’m talking about includes: http://www.themediamall.com/playon#how-it-works

Sent at 11:46 AM on Wednesday

Argile: and before you balk at the price tag, consider a one time $40 payment vs. paying for cable every month

just turn on an episode on the computer and beam it to the living room, make dinner, etc.

Sven: neat

so…it’s just the streaming that’s exclusive to xbox, right?

Argile: yeah

Sven: you can still get an actual DVD from netflix and play it on a PS3, right?

Argile: oh yeah

Sven: ok

i was ready to panic for a second

Argile: erm, I don’t think they could change the DVD format to only play in certain DVD players

Sven: well, i sure wouldn’t know

Argile: particularly since netflix doesn’t make the actual dvds

you’d basically have a riot on your hands if microsoft managed to get every dvd publisher to make their discs exclusive to xbox

you’d invalidate everyone’s dvd players…

Sven: which would be funny, in a way

Argile: yeah, I think it would last about 2 seconds before anti-trust regulators smashed that to pieces

Sent at 11:53 AM on Wednesday

Sven: which would also be funny

what a show

Sent at 11:55 AM on Wednesday

Sven: sweet

one of our vendors dropped by with quiznos for us

i’m so happy right now

Argile: boo

I’m a take my lunch break now. going to read and eat nutrigrain bars

hurrah!

also – there were glazed donuts in the office this morning

Sent at 11:58 AM on Wednesday

Sven: he also brought us cookies

Sent at 12:02 PM on Wednesday

Argile: hah: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/08/25/Monkey-suited-man-arrested/UPI-46171251246255/

Sven: without even reading the story, i can already tell it’ll be awesome because of the words “monkey suited man” in the link

lousy australian pigs

why would you hassle a guy in a monkey suit?

he wasn’t hurting anyone

Sent at 1:25 PM on Wednesday

Argile: loitering outside of the store?

he might try to kidnap people, or the store might not want him on their property

for more stupidity, see: http://bit.ly/oW1mg

Sven: he was dancing for customers, and hugging them

let me tell you, i’ll happily frequent a store with a guy capering around in a monkey suit

Sent at 1:28 PM on Wednesday

Argile: uh huh, especially if the guy is a perv who just wants to get cuddly with you

Sven: you’re right

we should also arrest the guys dressed as mickey mouse and donald duck at disney land

i bet they don’t give you their real name if you ask them

Sent at 1:30 PM on Wednesday

Sven: and, in reference to your article, it’s  not surprising that businesses would rather spend a ton of money on legal fees, etc. than to make responsible changes to their business models

Sent at 1:34 PM on Wednesday

Argile: true. though it must be noted that mickey and donald are interviewed and background-checked, not to mention in a high-public area with police constantly in surveillance

joe Monkey was on his own, coulda been anyone, and the possibility of supervision was random

Sven: it’s still in a very public place

and the guy’s in a monkey suit, for chrissakes

that’s probably the most conspicuous outfit there is, not very conducive to child snatching

and trying to whip it out while wearing a monkey suit would be cumbersome at best

Sent at 1:37 PM on Wednesday

Argile: but why wouldn’t he tell the cops his name?

and if you say that it’s about the illusion of being a monkey, then he deserves to be in jail for being a moron

Sven: well, and this fact is lamentable, stupidity isn’t a crime

i don’t know why he wouldn’t tell them his name either

i agree, that’s weird and would have saved a lot of trouble

but if he had told them his name, would they have stopped hassling him?

Argile: they would have told him to leave, I’m sure

but if you cooperate, odds are you’ll be better off

Sven: sure

and once the cops were called, yeah that was going to be game over

the cops can’t show up and then leave him alone

but the fact that they continued to hassle him, set bail, and re-arrest him for trying to get on a train seems extreme

Argile: lol, they told him to leave town as a bail condition

they re-arrested him coming back into town after he’d left

Sven: yeah, but that bail condition makes no sense

at the end of the day, it’s just a guy in a monkey suit that didn’t tell a cop his name

i guess, when guns are controlled, cops have time for other matters that american cops really wouldn’t have the time or resources to bother with

Sent at 1:45 PM on Wednesday

Argile: http://bit.ly/OaCac

darn foreigners taking our internet…

Sent at 1:51 PM on Wednesday

Sven: yeah…

we need an internet wall

like the wall we need on the mex-ee-can border

patrolled by alligators

Sent at 1:55 PM on Wednesday

Argile: or meth addicts

Sven: yeah, those’re pretty scary

Sent at 1:57 PM on Wednesday

Argile: I think I’m getting west nile

Sven: oh?

Argile: yep, world’s all hazy, eyes are fuzzy, and visions of pharaohs are dancing in my head

Sven: textbook west nile symptoms

Sent at 2:03 PM on Wednesday

Argile: yep. also – I have a strong urge to go to hawaii.

Sven: you may want to see a doctor

Argile: and I’m listening to japanese orchestra music

Sven: that’s not so much a west nile symptom as it is more of a general insanity symptom

Sent at 2:07 PM on Wednesday

Argile: oh. well, what’s the difference between the two? You’ll end up died with either condition (or with no condition)

Sven: i guess

so why bother reforming health care?

it’s all just a stall anyway

Argile: well, yeah, politics and governments and all that are really just fancy ways of extending and “enriching” life

they’re not necessary

Sven: yep

i think it’s about time we resorted to anarchy

let natural selection work its magic on the human population for a while

Argile: wait, hold that thought.

I need to get a few guns and some body armor before we start this shiznit

Sven: hey, that’s not natural selection

that’s cheating

Argile: no, that’s natural selection because it means I’m smart enough to know how to bend the rules

thus, the ones who are better thinkers survive

Sven: you wouldn’t be a better thinker, just privvy to inside information

Argile: and, thanks to my superior intuition, I’ve managed to put myself in position to acquire said information

once again, natural selection

Sven: well, i can see i’ll just have to take care of you myself

and avoid telling anyone of this plan from now on

Argile: hey, man, I have easy access to a large stock of nerf weaponry

Sven: that will certainly be factored into my plan to bring about your demise

Argile: as well as loyal-to-the-death drug-addled friends

Sven: those i’m not as worried about

for there is no such thing as loyalty among habitual drug users

or at least, no person-to-person loyalty

Argile: hey, I’m known as the “chill” guy, ok? That carries some weight

Sven: eh

Sent at 2:19 PM on Wednesday

Argile: fine, but I’ve always got frozen pizzas and doritos laying around

so beware

Sven: oh, i’ll beware, all right

Argile: also, my japanese orchestra on last.fm just became japanese rock-pop for no reason

yet, I don’t have the energy to change it

Sven: poor downtrodden Argile

Sent at 2:24 PM on Wednesday

Argile: it’s alright, I’ve got an intriguing story idea bubbling in my mind right now

Sven: you always do

Argile: what’s funny is that a fair amount of videogame music is popping up on this station, and I can identify a lot of it

Sven: that’s cool…in a weird sort of way

Sent at 2:26 PM on Wednesday

Argile: If you take what happens here and apply it to banks, you start to understand why they sucked it up: http://bit.ly/ZRxLd

Sent at 2:40 PM on Wednesday

Sven: from the “excuse me doctor, but i think i know a little something about medicine” department

Sent at 2:47 PM on Wednesday

Argile: haha yeah. He’s watched “Varsity Blues” and knows all about the game

Sent at 2:48 PM on Wednesday

Sven: ever heard of the book “mistakes were made…but not by me”?

Argile: nope

Sven: my dad was telling me about it, sounds interesting

basically it explains how, even if one were to lay down the facts to mike brown to illustrate that he doesn’t know what he’s doing and is crippling the bengals…

it still wouldn’t register

sort of an exploration into the psychology of rationalization

where people can get to a point where facts no longer matter

simply because their brains won’t let them

despite the overwhelming evidence that Cincinatti sucks, even though they’ve had very talented players, would not have any impact on trying to get Mike Brown to stop doing what he’s doing

Sent at 2:58 PM on Wednesday

Argile: so the only logical solution is violent dismemberment?

Sven: well, i’m not sure about the “dismemberment” part being the only solution

once you resort to violence, there’s still all sorts of options within that heading

Sent at 3:01 PM on Wednesday

Argile: How about dropping a coffin on him? so that way he’s just about ready?

Sven: that works too

Argile: or maybe poor management skills don’t require injury, just a dunk tank

every time the opponents score points, in he goes!

Sven: that’d be pretty damn funny

Sent at 3:04 PM on Wednesday

Argile: yeah, I’m thinking public humiliation would be a lot more effective than jail/firings for a lot of people

imagine if they’d forced Madoff to dance to Thriller in his underwear

Sven: that’d be some damn good TV

Argile: I think that it would have brought great joy to the world, while punishing the guy

or dump Mark Sandford into the ring against mike tyson

Sven: hard to believe no one’s tried to implement this sort of system

recently, anyway

i know public humiliation used to be common a couple centuries ago

Sent at 3:14 PM on Wednesday

Argile: yeah, bring back the stockades!

lol, a remix of a super mario RPG track just came on

Sven: sweeeet

Sent at 3:17 PM on Wednesday

Argile: nothing like such classic compositions as that

Sven: incredible that such pieces get repeat play

Sent at 3:20 PM on Wednesday

Argile: incredible that they don’t get more

Sent at 3:23 PM on Wednesday

Sven: er, yeah

that’s…what i menat

Sent at 3:26 PM on Wednesday

Sven: i don’t wanna go to class tonight

Argile: well, check some of these gems out instead: http://www.manolith.com/2009/08/25/worst-website-designs/

Sent at 3:37 PM on Wednesday

Sven: i think it’s more fun to read the commentary than actually visit the sites

Argile: same, because these truly are awful

Sven: i’d imagine you find these more offensive than i do

Sent at 3:41 PM on Wednesday

Argile: maybe a little bit, but christ…… just hideous

Sent at 3:43 PM on Wednesday

Argile: i have to keep clicking away b/c I’m going to laugh

Sent at 3:46 PM on Wednesday

Argile: look at that “Ling’s” site

scrap your husband?!

Sven: yeah…not sure i’m following that

Argile: just in the screenshot

of Ling’s cars, in the upper middle

Sven: no i saw it, i just don’t…understand it

and can you say “busy”?

holy crap, that’ll give a person an epileptic seizure

Argile: down in the right corner, you can go to Ling Tube

Sven: i won’t, thanks

Sent at 3:50 PM on Wednesday

Argile: read the banner under the title “I expose illegal and misleading contract and hire leasing websites” – Ling

ahahahah

Sven: perhaps she should start with hers

Argile: I would bet ling’s a guy

oh wait

good call

Sven: the weird animations representing Ling appear female to me

but i could be wrong

Argile: yeah, you’re right

I thought those were just random advertisement images

but most of them have speech bubbles with “My” in them

Sven: easy mistake to make

Sent at 3:54 PM on Wednesday

Argile: I wonder how much crap the author had to wade through to get these

Sven: one shudders to think

Argile: that giant dog with wings is so wonderful

also, that page has an announcement squeezed on there from may

so they actually still use it…

 Sent at 8:23 AM on Tuesday

 Sven:  that is rather cynical

but as with most things cynical, also fairly true

 Sent at 8:27 AM on Tuesday

 Sven:  a somewhat cynical quote I’m fond of: it’s easier to get what you want with a kind word and a gun, than with a kind word alone

 Sent at 8:29 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  haha nice. :
Nobody Cares
Population: 6 Billion

 Sven:  very clever

 Argile:  those are courtesy of the gapingvoid, the strange business-card cartoonist who wrote that book I mentioned yesterday

 Sven:  well, much obliged to gapingvoid

 Sent at 8:33 AM on Tuesday

 Sven:  I think I may not have to worry so much about watching videos at work

apparently someone sent my coworker a youtube clip of some show in sweden that involved a bunch of naked dudes dancing to “kung fu fighting” with conveniently-placed cymbals

 Argile:  how did you find this out?

 Sven:  I was walking past her office from the bathroom when she was watching it

and the sound was playing through her computer speakers

 Sent at 8:53 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  lol

quality

 Sven:  we both got a chuckle out of it

 Sent at 8:57 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  lol – be careful who you search for: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=23177

 Sven:  yeah, I saw that this morning

jessica biel, of all people

not who I would have guessd

 Argile:  Check out what is says next to “Ashley Tisdale” – a popular search term when it comes to screensavers. A host of screensaver websites contained malware-laden downloads

gee, wonder what those screensavers looked like?

 Sven:  it’s a puzzlement

 Sent at 9:14 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  Yes, much like rubik and his dastardly cube…

 Sven:  my thoughts exactly

 Sent at 9:20 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  yes, much like shortz and his nefarious crosswords

 Sven:  …yeah…those too

 Argile:  or pajitnov and his sinister falling four-block shapes

 Sven:  let’s see how long he can keep this up

 Argile:  or edward nigma and his cunning riddles

 Sven:  and we’ve veered into the fictitious

 Argile:  or mr. copperfield and his magical mysteries

 Sven:  good recovery

 Argile:  or the popes with their priestly puzzles

 Sven:  I think you’re done, sir

 Sent at 9:26 AM on Tuesday

Argile:  but what about Dante and his devilish designs?

 Sven:  I think you’ve swapped mysterious things for clever alliteration

 Argile:  or Aristotle and his algebraic abstracts?

or Napoleon and his ninety-nine nude nymphs?!

 Sven:  um, what about them?

 Sent at 9:30 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  they were pretty awesome. all I’m sayin’

 Sven:  well, that’s indisputable

 Sent at 9:32 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  grr, when pandora kicks me off, I’m so creating more free accounts

 Sven:  way to stick it to the man

 Argile:  did I tell you about spotify yet?

 Sven:  nope

 Argile:  combine pandora and itunes and free and you have it

you can make your own playlists from an itunes-esque interface

 Sven:  neat

 Argile:  there’re more ads, but you can actually choose your music

score. adventureland is coming out. did you see it?

 Sven:  I did not

I wanted to, though

Sent at 9:37 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  it’s a lot darker than you might think, I really liked it though

rent it and watch it with lena

 Sven:  I’ll get right on that

although the lena thing might bit a bit tricky to navigate

she got a call right when her group was leaving, so I couldn’t get a phone number

 Sent at 9:41 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  lol

 Sven:  my usual luck, basically

 Argile:  did she friend you on fb?

 Sven:  no

she probably didn’t get my last name

seeing as I didn’t get hers

 Sent at 9:45 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  well, sven, seems like you kinda screwed the pooch on this one

 Sven:  so at this point my choices are: friend her and risk looking creepy, or rely on randomly running into her at the Library/rely on Bob

who said afterward those girls would “probably invite us over at some point,” but I’m not holding my breath on that one

 Argile:  lol

you just reek of confidence right now

 Sven:  yeah, it clings to me

it’s not so much confidence I’m lacking (in this particular case) as it is just optimism

 Argile:  one might say the two are closely related

 Sven:  one might

the difference, however, is that in this particular case it’s not myself that I don’t believe in

it’s the other factors beyond my control that I don’t believe are going to line up for me

 Sent at 9:52 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  see, it’s the “beyond your control” part that frustrates me

you can always influence that

 Sven:  um…her getting a call at the exact wrong moment was within my sphere of control?

whether or not she and her friends decide to invite Bob and me over at some point is within my sphere of control?

 Sent at 9:55 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  haha, no, but spending more time at the library is

here’s your christmas present: http://imgur.com/iMZSd.jpg

 Sven:  well, that’s very generous of you

 Sent at 9:58 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  I know you’ve always loved her

 Sven:  I am a huge marilyn monroe fan

having seen nary a single movie she’s been in

 Argile:  what?! You call yourself a movie buff and yet have not seen “Some Like It Hot”?

 Sven:  I haven ot

and I probably fail at life because of that

 Argile:  pretty much, yeah

 Sent at 10:03 AM on Tuesday

 Sven:  well, what’s one more reason

Sent at 10:09 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  yep. always good to know just how worthless and sucky you are

 Sven:  it’s important to remember

no one likes a conceited blowhard

 Sent at 10:13 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  and everybody loves a loser

 Sven:  or, at least, everyone pities a loser

pity being an ample substitute for love

 Argile:  you bet – because you love things that make you look better

 Sven:  glad you’re with me on this

 Sent at 10:17 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  yep, only because I take full advantage of it

 Sent at 10:18 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  christ, client gave me a contact number that’s been… disconnected! hurray

 Sven:  heeheeehee

Sent at 10:21 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  so, naturally, I found the correct number… on their web site

 Sven:  you’d think you were a bill collector for all the lengths clients go to in order to avoid you

 Argile:  yeah, I guess I’m a pretty scary guy

 Sven:  you are pretty intimidating

 Argile:  well, for a 6’8, 300 lb tattooed giant of a man, I guess so

 Sven:  uh…yeah

 Argile:  I’ve had a growth spurt over the last, uh, 3 months

 Sven:  which temporarily reversed for the weekend I visited you?

 Sent at 10:27 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  I just wasn’t wearing my make-up then

 Sven:  must be some make-up job

 Sent at 10:30 AM on Tuesday

 Sven:  I guess the tattoos wouldn’t be tough

but tacking on 110 pounds and 6 inches?

impressive, sir

 Sent at 10:32 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  platform shoes and strategically placed medicine balls

 Sven:  I just got a mental image of you wearing platform shoes

it made me chuckle

 Argile:  yeah, well, I just had an image of you being eaten by a horde of man-eating bats

it made me chuckle

 Sven:  I’m not sure that’s called for

 Argile:  but so few things in life are

 Sent at 10:35 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  yay, the client liked my rewrite of their stuff

giving me more reason to be arrogant and egotistical

 Sven:  one can never have too many

 Sent at 11:28 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  yes. The more accolades the better.

 Sent at 11:30 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  woot. creating a sitemap with only 2 pages is so much fun

 Sent at 11:32 AM on Tuesday

 Sven:  a chance to really stretch creatively

 Argile:  yep, I think I used less than 7 words

and that’s counting 1 and 2

 Sent at 11:34 AM on Tuesday

 Sven:  there’s much to be said for brevity

 Argile:  which, considering the meaning of the word, is ironic

 Sven:  I was just thinking that

 Argile:  And I knew that, because I’m Mentok! The Mindtaker!

oooOOOOooooo

 Sven:  that just made your day, didn’t it?

 Argile:  dude, quoting harvey birdman is just about the best thing ever

and the fact that you’re just about the only person I know who would get that makes it even better

 Sven:  it is pretty special

and working harvey birdman into conversation definitely ain’t easy

 Sent at 11:38 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  too true

not many people bring up old cartoons, which is Birdman’s main source of humor, so…

 Sven:  yep, yep

Sent at 11:42 AM on Tuesday

 Sven:  btw, I’m sure you’ve seen it by now, but in case you haven’t, Avatar looks pretty friggin’ sweet

Basterds had a trailer, and it looked pretty badass

Sent at 12:50 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  yeah, I’ve seen the trailer, but only w/o audio

 Sven:  well, that’s no good

 Sent at 12:53 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  Also, I’m doomed: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/august24/multitask-research-study-082409.html

 Sent at 12:58 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  but I’m golden!

heehee, you’re a “sucker for the irrelevant”

 Sent at 1:00 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  I think that part depends on what the person defines as “irrelevant”

 Sven:  you’re rationalizing now

 Sent at 1:01 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  no, because I happen to define those photos and comics, etc as relevant to my creative development

they might not help with my immediate task, but they’re giving me ideas

 Sven:  uh huh…

 Sent at 1:04 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  hey, buddy, keep givin’ me lip and see what happens

 Sven:  I’m simply expressing skepticism

as a firm believer in “one thing at a time” it would be insincere of me to not identify with the findings of an article that says multi-tasking may not be all that advantageous

 Sent at 1:14 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  strange, then, that some of the biggest multi-taskers make plenty o’ cash

 Sent at 1:15 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  or you have major multitaskers like my boss, who lost $1 million last year

 Sent at 1:16 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  yeah, oh well. I already tweeted about my impending mental inferiority

 Sven:  hey, we’re moving through the stages of grief!

there was denial, then anger, bargaining/rationalization, and now acceptance

did you do that on purpose?

 Argile:  I wanna say yes, but no, I did not

I was probably multi-tasking too much to think of it

 Sven:  probably a fair assumption

 Sent at 1:29 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  technical difficulties. please stand by

booooooooEEEEEEEEEEEEP

and we’re back online

 Sent at 1:31 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  internet’s having issues today

I thought I was immune to the troubles affecting my boss and coworker, but I guess the evil connection was just biding its time

 Argile:  undoubtedly

we’re slowly creating a Ghost in the Shell

 Sven:  yep

we’re all screwed, I’ve accepted it

Sent at 1:35 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  I fully plan on becoming its ally

being the dog at the foot of the throne is preferable to being the rat hunted through the sewers

 Sent at 1:37 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  I plan on giving up entirely, but going out in a hail of gunfire

AI-assisted suicide, I guess

 Argile:  I’ll try to see to it that you die quickly

 Sven:  I appreciate that

 Sent at 1:40 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  I’m typing up a restaurant menu right now, it’s pretty delicious

 Sent at 1:44 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  I’m typing up items for bid proposals into spreadsheets

it’s not at all delicious

although there are funny-sounding items, like filter sock/wattle

whatever that is

 Argile:  yum

JoJo Potatoes. who the hell names their menu Item “JoJo” potatoes

 Sven:  good question

 Sent at 1:46 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  tell me you have something incredibly thrilling to do tonight?

 Sent at 1:54 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  same thing I do every night: try to take over the world

 Sent at 1:55 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  I take it this is sufficiently exciting

 Argile:  I dunno… depends on the plan

and what’s on cable

 Sven:  didn’t think of that

I’ll have to check the listings

oh yeah, Rescue Me is on tonight

guess I’ll have to put off taking over the world

 Sent at 1:59 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  but I will be lifting weights tonight, so that’ll be a small step toward world domination

 Sent at 2:01 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  nice. always good to be strong when you attempt a hostile takeover of 6 billion people

 Sven:  that’s what I figure

plus, my plan for taking over the world is to suckerpunch people like Chuck Norris in the crotch and proceed to beat the crap out of them

and get it on tape

then broadcast those beatings worldwide

people won’t be able to help but bow down to me

 Sent at 2:06 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  also included on the list are the Pope, Derek Jeter, Brian Urlacher, and Kim Jong Il

other suggestions welcome

Ooh, Brad Pitt goes on that list too

or Christian Bale, one of the two

 Argile:  excellent, though if you keep reaching for the crotches of other men, people might ask questions

 Sven:  that’s only how I get in the door, beating-wise. It progresses from the crotch.

I’m trying to think of strong women to suckerpunch, but I’m drawing a blank

Angelina Jolie?

Sent at 2:10 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  maybe Marion Jones

 Sent at 2:12 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  Mia Hamm

 Sven:  hmm…kinda jarring that I can’t think of the female equivalent chuck norris

 Argile:  Charlie’s Angels?

Jessica Alba of Dark Angel?

 Sven:  yeah, jessica alba would work

 Argile:  Milla Jovovich

 Sven:  Lucy Liu is the only Charlie’s Angel that would really send the message I’m going for

yeah, jovovich would be good

if it was 15 years ago, I’d say Sarah Hamilton

 Argile:  Hillary Clinton

 Sven:  there we go

 Sent at 2:16 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  glad we got that figured out

 Sven:  yep

sure will be fun editing all that footage into a montage

Argile: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/BrentSprecher/news/?a=9396

woot! Batman!

 Sent at 3:01 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  neat

 Sent at 3:03 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  I look forward to Nolan ending the debate on whether or not Harvey actually died

 Sent at 3:05 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  they’ve still got plenty of villains to choose from

Mr. Freeze!!

 Sven:  there’s a lot of “Johnny Depp as the Riddler” rumors buzzing

wishful thinking though that may be

 Argile:  Poison Ivy played by someone sinister

 Sven:  yeah…but this Batman series seems to be much more grounded in reality

 Argile:  I know…

 Sven:  Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and Penguin all seem a tad outlandish for the current Batman universe

catwoman’s kinda pushing it too

Croc is right out

 Argile:  isn’t Croc spiderman?

 Sven:  you might be thinking of The Lizard

 Argile:  oh, yeah

 Sven:  I remember watching the Batman cartoons back in the day, and I’m pretty sure I remember a Croc villain

kind of a subvillain, really

Sent at 3:09 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  dude, there’s that clay villain

kinda like sandman, but with putty

 Sven:  oh yeah

that’s totally realistic

 Sent at 3:12 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  find out his name and start a petition for the next movie

 Sent at 3:13 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  the Mad Hatter

Depp’s already playing him for the Alice movie

 Sven:  yeah, I saw a couple pictures

looks pretty creepy

 Argile:  see? easy transfer

or, if they’re lacking in originality, they could use Bane as the sterotypical strongman villain

again

 Sven:  very true

 Sent at 3:17 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  but, seeing as it was a good 3 years between the last 2 movies, it’ll probably be a while before this one hits theaters

 Argile:  yeppers

 Sent at 3:20 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  thankfully, we’ve got the harry potter, iron man, thor, spider man, justice league (?), inevitable Star Trek sequel, Magneto, etc.

 Sven:  and captain america

followed by the eventual Avengers

there will be no shortage of comic book movies in the foreseeable future

 Sent at 3:22 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  this is really getting old

 Sent at 3:27 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  raggin’ fraggin’ internet

 Argile:  bwahahaha

I mock your bad connection

 Sent at 3:30 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  jerk-face

 Sent at 3:32 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  shuddap, you don’t have to work with people who think the internet is a series of tubes

 Sent at 3:34 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  only because they’ve never thought that hard about it

 Sent at 3:37 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  doesn’t make my job any easier

 Sven:  must be really fun over there for your IT people

 Sent at 3:40 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  I’m gonna be hittin’ the road now

 Argile:  haha alright

Sven: well, it’s monday

Argile: do your classes start today?

it’s strange reading about people starting their stuff

Sven: i’ll bet

i have class on wednesday and thursday

blarg

Argile: evenings only?

Sven: i’ve noticed a lot of people who’ve graduated posting a “it’s weird that i don’t have to go to class this week”

yeah, just night classes

Sent at 8:38 AM on Monday

Argile: solid

Sven: yep, so i can keep on workin’

Argile: well good, because if you weren’t, then I’d have to be… productive

Sven: god forbid

Sent at 8:40 AM on Monday

Argile: yeah, exactly, seeing as I once again have little to do this morning

Sven: bummer

i don’t have much either

Sent at 8:42 AM on Monday

Argile: yep, I’m like a plane in a holding pattern

Sven: that must be infinitely depressing to you

Sent at 8:44 AM on Monday

Argile: nah, it just means I need to find ways to redirect my efforts

Sven: speaking of which, how’d sat. night go for you?

Argile: eh, nothing spectacular

just more of the usual

Sven: typical

Argile: went golfing saturday night and was eaten alive my mosquitoes

my entire body itches as though I bathed in chlorine

Sent at 8:49 AM on Monday

Sven: that’s no good

Sent at 8:51 AM on Monday

Sven: haven’t had a single issue with mosquitoes all summer

Argile: we didn’t either, but then it rained for several straight days and spawned the blod-sucking hordes

Sven: yeah, that’ll happen

Sent at 8:54 AM on Monday

Sven: although we’ve had a pretty rainy summer down here…hmmm

Sent at 8:57 AM on Monday

Argile: well, feel free to borrow some of our bugs

Sent at 8:58 AM on Monday

Sven: i’ll get on that

Sent at 9:00 AM on Monday

Argile: sigh, even my pointless meeting has been postponed…

Sven: good start to the week

Sent at 9:03 AM on Monday

Sven: i’m ready for it to be weekend now

Sent at 9:08 AM on Monday

Argile: I’m just gonna spend the day here: http://www.academicearth.org/

make it feel like I’m still in school

Sent at 9:10 AM on Monday

Sven: why would you ever want to do that?

Sent at 9:12 AM on Monday

Argile: because it’s free?

Sven: i s’pose…it’s just, considering how eager you were to be done with college…seems odd to me

Sent at 9:14 AM on Monday

Argile: oh, I have no desire to cpmplete menial assignments beneath my skill level

(it’s ok to do that on the job b/c of the whole money thing)

but I have no problem with learning things

Sven: i see

Argile: actually, I’ll probably just mess with this: http://gethighnow.com/

Sent at 9:18 AM on Monday

Sven: interesting when a website congratulates you for finding it

Sent at 9:20 AM on Monday

Argile: gotta be positive

Sent at 9:21 AM on Monday

Sven: very true

Sent at 9:23 AM on Monday

Argile: alright, finding a history lecture…

something about battles and bloody desmises…

Sent at 9:31 AM on Monday

Sven: sounds like something you’d look for

Sent at 9:32 AM on Monday

Argile: so, naturally, I’m listening to Thomas Friedman on foreign economics

Sent at 9:33 AM on Monday

Sven: pretty much the same thing

Sent at 9:37 AM on Monday

Argile: you watching those “Get High” things?

Sent at 9:38 AM on Monday

Sven: not yet

people keep coming in and out of my work area

Sent at 9:40 AM on Monday

Sven: that’s some trippy stuff

this website is an acid-fiend’s dream come true

Sent at 9:43 AM on Monday

Argile: lol

excellent

Sent at 9:46 AM on Monday

Argile: jenny is asking if this is work appropriate

is it? (Haven’t had a chance to look yet)

Sven: the “gettinghigh” thing?

yeah, it’s just a bunch of optical illusions

perfectly work appropriate

the website name that shows up at the top of the window is unfortunate, though

if someone scrolls through your history, there’ll be an entry that just says “get high now”

Argile: hahaha

yeah… perfect

Sent at 9:51 AM on Monday

Sven: so i understand jenny’s hesitance

Sent at 9:52 AM on Monday

Argile: yeah, well, she’s just not as reckless as I am

Sent at 9:54 AM on Monday

Sven: very few are

Argile: alright, meeting time, bbl –

Sent at 9:56 AM on Monday

Argile: short, sweet, chuckle-worthy comparison

http://bit.ly/11spBA

Sent at 10:17 AM on Monday

Sven: wow

harsh, but true

Sent at 10:20 AM on Monday

Argile: yeah, Cutler played well this weekend against Giants starters, so I’m happy

Sven: doesn’t take much, eh?

Argile: says the guy whose team is banking on a 40 year-old QB

Sven: nah, we’re banking on our kickass RB’s

Argile: yeah, because that worked well the last 2 years

Sven: well, i maintain that, even more than a QB, we need a competent secondary

any team that plays us rushes for 40 yards and passes for 350

i dunno why anyone runs that ball against the Vikings, our defensive line is friggin’ awesome and our secondary sucks

Sent at 10:25 AM on Monday

Argile: because you can always try to run the ball outside, which forces a defense to keep some of its LBs and CBs closer to the line

if you never run, they can all just sit back and look for the picks

Sven: right

must be nice to be a sacrificial lamb when you’re an RB against the vikings

Sent at 10:30 AM on Monday

Argile: That’s what RBs are in general, though

their chances of breaking a big one, no matter what defense, are small,

they’re essentially a decoy with plenty of upside

Sven: well you don’t need your RB’s to break big ones to still be effective

even if they’re just averaging 4 yards per carry, that’s good enough for a first down every 3 plays

and you need them to run the clock down, too

Sent at 10:33 AM on Monday

Argile: yep, they’re just around to soak up the blows and the time

when the going gets rough, though, they all throw

Sven: and that’s where the Vikings secondary breaks down

i can’t even count the number of games we’ve thrown away because we got 2-minute-drilled

you know they’re passing the ball, and still they march straight down the field

Sent at 10:38 AM on Monday

Argile: yeah, kinda blows

remember oregon trail? – http://xkcd.com/623/

sorry, couldn’t resist the non-sequiter

Sven: no probl

that’s pretty funny, so it’s ok

apparently our office supplies vendor included a box of jelly bellies in our last order for no particular reason

Sent at 10:43 AM on Monday

Sven: mmm…these are wonderful

Argile: fine, we just received samples of gourmet chocolates

think I’m gonna go enjoy some special truffles, biatch

Sven: you always have to one-up me, don’t you

Sent at 10:46 AM on Monday

Argile: damn right I do

Sent at 10:47 AM on Monday

Argile: Game theory lecture from yale university. yay

Sven: sounds exciting

Sent at 10:48 AM on Monday

Argile: you bet it is

Sven: lemme ask you something

did you know a girl named Lena at drake?

Argile: lol why?

Sven: so is that a yes?

Sent at 10:54 AM on Monday

Argile: what does she look like?

also, keep in mind I was generally in class with people older than us

Sven: longish brown hair, maybe a little taller than average

i’m bad at physical descriptions

she minored in english, and had some classes with bob, so i didn’t know if maybe you did too

Argile: what, you supposed to date this girl or something?

Sven: would’ve been easier if i’d gotten a last name

i dunno, but i was talking to her at the library when you texted me

rob seems to be encouraging it

Sent at 10:59 AM on Monday

Sven: just curious, nevermind

Sent at 11:00 AM on Monday

Argile: she on facebook?

Sven: probably

but Lena’s kind of a common name

Sent at 11:02 AM on Monday

Argile: Lena Paulson ring a bell?

she’s friends with bob

would be a senior this year

Sven: sounds about right

lemme hop on fb here…

well, that’s not the most helpful pic, but i’m pretty sure that’s her

Argile: oh, haha, I know this girl

Sven: what does that mean?

Argile: smart, sassy – isn’t shy about her opinion

Sven: i’m comfortable with all that

Argile: i’m just asking if that sounds right

Sven: yeah, it does

she got off on a healthcare tangent at one point

apparently we’re politically similar, so it was ok

Argile: yeah, she’s pretty liberal

Sven: so i gathered

Argile: and she’ll fight you on those points

or, I should say, she won’t hesitate to defend anything she says

Sven: duly noted

sounds ok to me so far

Argile: yeah, she’s a bit heavier in the looks department, though that’s not a knock for or against

just her body type

Sent at 11:09 AM on Monday

Sven: i’d say my record demonstrates that’s not as much an issue for me

Sent at 11:11 AM on Monday

Argile: haha

at least you’re honest

but yeah, give it a go.

hopefully bob and I will have taught you enough to dance with an english major

Sven: literal-dance or figurative-dance?

and she’s apparently a neuroscience major (which is how healthcare came up)

Argile: yeah, because bob and I taught you to literally dance

yeah – we had a minor spat over healthcare once

she’s never worked in a hospital, and attempted to articulate an opinion that demanded inside knowledge

Sven: that can’t have sat well with you

Argile: well, I’m sorry, but it was in an english class with a bunch of people arguing in the abstract

so I had to call bullshit on that

Sven: hey, i wasn’t accusing you of anything

Sent at 11:17 AM on Monday

Sven: i left my lunch sitting on my kitchen table today, and it saddens me

Sent at 11:20 AM on Monday

Argile: you’ll actually have to go out today

oh no. will you melt in the sunlight?

Sven: it’s entirely possible

actually i’ll probably just drive home and get my lunch

but these jelly bellies are holding me over for now

Sent at 11:22 AM on Monday

Argile: kinda disgusting, that is

Sven: not a fan of jelly bellie?

Sent at 11:26 AM on Monday

Argile: not really, no

Sven: that’s just too weird

Sent at 11:31 AM on Monday

Argile: that I’m not a huge fan of strangely flavored sugar?

Sven: well, yeah

you’d love them if they were caffeinated

Sent at 11:34 AM on Monday

Argile: not necessarily

mountain dew is caffeinated, and I despise it

also, why am I still on the english department email list?

Sven: fair question

i seem to still be on it as well

Argile: no, I will not be attending the english department’s opening meeting for freshmen, sophs, nuiors, and seniors

Sven: nor will i

Sent at 11:40 AM on Monday

Sven: does your drake email still work?

Sent at 11:42 AM on Monday

Argile: yeah

it goes for 1 year after graduation

Sent at 11:44 AM on Monday

Sven: that’s where you’re still getting the english dept emails, right?

Sent at 11:46 AM on Monday

Sven: just have to endure the minor annoyance for a few more months

Sent at 11:47 AM on Monday

Argile: yeah… it’s a little annoying though

I don’t wanna be reminded about all the fun stuff the english department is doing

especially since we never had this opening party when I was there

Sent at 11:49 AM on Monday

Sven: yeah…college punks are spoiled nowadays

Sent at 11:51 AM on Monday

Argile: yeah.

I’m still giving the j-profs advice, though.

Swear I should get paid consultants fees for this

Sven: well aren’t you special

Sent at 11:54 AM on Monday

Sven: ok, i’m gonna run home and get my food

Sent at 12:01 PM on Monday

Sven: mission accomplished

Sent at 12:30 PM on Monday

Argile: congratulations, I’m sure your stomach is very happy

Sent at 12:53 PM on Monday

Sven: oh it is

Sent at 12:56 PM on Monday

Sven: i made another batch of my health soup over the weekend

i can feel the healthiness coursing through my veins

Sent at 12:57 PM on Monday

Argile: must be nice. I just feel the leftover strains of booze clinging to my dying innards

Sven: must feel pleasant

Sent at 1:00 PM on Monday

Argile: coupled with the growing sense of despair and hopelessness, it makes for a potent concoction

Sven: i can only imagine

Sent at 1:03 PM on Monday

Argile: out of curiosity, is there something you believe you will do in your lifetime? A certain thing that is more important than others?

Sven: hmmm

Sent at 1:07 PM on Monday

Sven: it may be a tad worrisome that it’s taking me this long to answer

Sent at 1:09 PM on Monday

Sven: for most of my life, asserting complete and indisputed independence has been my most all-consuming goal

i mean, there are things i’d like to do, but putting one ahead of another is where i run into difficulties

Sent at 1:11 PM on Monday

Argile: I’m not talking about abstract concepts like independence, but a single act, sort of like saying “Climb Mount Everest”

Sven: hmmmm

i’m gonna assume from this line of questioning that you do have some such item?

..or goal, i should probably say

the other place i run into trouble is being “certain” of accomplishing some such goal

Sent at 1:14 PM on Monday

Argile: What I’m getting at here is whether there is something, when you look 60 years ahead, that you want to have done

something that you assume you will have accomplished, or at least be close to doing, by the time you’re old

Sven: well, i want to have made a major film with my sibs by that point

but i have trouble hinging the success of my life on one lofty goal

especially since this particular one relies on a lot of other people besides myself

Sent at 1:19 PM on Monday

Sven: i look at people who feel like their lives are a failure because they’re mid-30’s and don’t have children, or whatever, and i find that the problem there is that they’ve placed everything on a single criterion

Sent at 1:21 PM on Monday

Sven: myself, not being a gambling man, i can’t make myself place one goal above all others, especially one that, despite doing everything in my power, may still not come to fruition

Sent at 1:23 PM on Monday

Argile: well, you just stated what I was asking about – making a film with your brothers

there is a part of you that, for some reason or another, expects that to happen

Sven: it’s that word “expects” that i struggle with

i don’t exactly expect it to happen

i want it to happen, i’ll try to make it happen

but i don’t expect that to be enough

and if i’m 60 and for whatever reason it never materialized, i’ll certainly be disappointed, but that’s what i’ll use to gauge whether or not i’m happy with how my life went

*that’s not what I’ll use

oops

Sent at 1:28 PM on Monday

Sven: oops

Sent at 1:29 PM on Monday

Argile: so what’re you going to do to try to make that happen?

Sven: well, it’ll probably be the financial side of the operation that i’ll be most useful

so i’m getting a graduate degree, i’ll sit for the CPA exam, etc

and for now, staying solvent is occupying a lot of my focus

i try to watch a wide variety of movies and TV to keep up with what works and what doesn’t, since i’d like to cowrite

and i ask my brother and my sister to send me any scripts they’ve written so i can get used to their styles, and the format

so what’s your major goal you “expect” to accomplish?

Argile: making the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list

Sven: hilarious

c’mon, you don’t get to go all “guidance counselor” on me and not expect it to come back your way

Argile: sorry, i was editing my background

there’s a reason I’m a writer, not a visual designer

Sven: well, no one can do it all

Sent at 1:38 PM on Monday

Sven: all right, don’t answer the question

be all “mysterious-like”

Sent at 1:40 PM on Monday

Argile: oh,no. my answer to that question is to have a world of my own to play with, some sort of fictional place that maybe, a few other people can escape into for awhile

whether that’s as a novel, game/film script, or something utterly different doesn’t matter to me

Sven: so you’ve taken a concrete goal and made it somewhat abstract

Sent at 1:45 PM on Monday

Argile: basically – though it all starts with the concrete goal of getting the fictional stuff set down and defined in words

regardless of its eventual format

Sven: fair enough

so what brought all that on?

Sent at 1:51 PM on Monday

Argile: oh, I was bored yesterday and went to borders

picked up a book on marketing/business and read it in an hour

while sitting there in a chair

it was called “Ignore Everybody”

which the author defined to mean that your own best ideas are going to be frowned on by everyone else because they’re new

yet, if they’re actually good and you persist, everyone will swing around to your side

at which time you must continue to ignore them as they attempt to modify your idea for their own gains

Sven: well

sounds like someone who paints in black and white

Sent at 1:57 PM on Monday

Argile: haha, kind of, there’s more to it than I care to describe here, but it’s a decent book and a quick read

Sent at 2:00 PM on Monday

Sven: “get an idea, and then get a big stick to protect that idea”

Sent at 2:01 PM on Monday

Argile: that’s one of his points, but the bigger one (that led to our discussion) was that you shouldn’t wait to start working towards that idea we both stated

now, he’s actually smart enough to say “Don’t Quit Your Job”

Sven: that’s refreshing

Argile: but he does push for making better use of one’s evenings and weekends

more time writing, less time TVing

Sven: how original

Sent at 2:04 PM on Monday

Argile: haha, he has a point though

Sven: i know

Argile: every minute we’re goofing off, there’s some competitor working at it

Sven: that’s why i’m actually pretty careful with the type of TV that i watch

Sent at 2:08 PM on Monday

Argile: sigh – yeah. it’s good to filter out the crap.

Sven: what was that sigh all about?

Argile: I was trying to fix some person’s error on my old site (it’s slow around here for me today) and I can’t get into it

either I’m not remembering my password (I don’t have it logged on this computer), or they finally decided to lock me out

Sven: aw shit

Sent at 2:18 PM on Monday

Argile: the amount of hours I sunk into that – it’s like writing a novel and then not being able to change any of the words

Sven: must be frustrating

also, it’s kinda funny looking at a news-type website, but all the articles are from 3 months ago

Argile: yeah.. it’ll start up again soon

but it’s sad, because it more or less means they no longer trust me with the thing I built

Sven: not sure i totally blame them…

Argile: no, I don’t either

but it’s never fun watching your connections to the past get lopped away, even if they simply were passwords and usernames

Sven: yeah…sad day

Argile: you’d better get your punk ass to the cities soon so that I can get out of here

Sven: what, you’re waiting on me?

Sent at 2:24 PM on Monday

Sven: you know how long that’ll take, not in my power to shorten it

only in my power to keep it from being longer

Sent at 2:25 PM on Monday

Argile: ja, I know, and I’m not really waiting for you. I’m just clinging to excuses that’ll get me out of here

Sven: ah, well don’t let me get in the way of that

Sent at 2:26 PM on Monday

Argile: I’m not. The biggest obstacle to success is myself, at the moment

Sven: ‘cuz the waaaiiiiii-ting is the hardest part

Sent at 2:29 PM on Monday

Argile: nevermind, the greatest obstacle to my success is you and your infernal pestering

Sven: hey, you can stop talking to me any time you want

Sent at 2:31 PM on Monday

Argile: yeah, if I really cared.

Sven: that’s the spirit

Sent at 2:36 PM on Monday

Argile: speaking of a lack of spirit, team we’re s’posed to play tonight in the tourney forfeited

losers.

Sven: that sucks

buncha wimps

Sent at 2:48 PM on Monday

Argile: yeah. doesn’t surprise me.

we’re a pretty frightening bunch

Sent at 2:57 PM on Monday

Sven: no doubt

Sent at 3:01 PM on Monday

Argile: sigh, just got an email back from a prof, new j-students aren’t interested in web 2.0 skills

in a couple of years, those students = unemployed

Sven: good to know younger punks won’t be competing with you for jobs

Sent at 3:06 PM on Monday

Argile: yeah, which means there’ll be fewer bodies on the streets

Sven: sounds like everyone wins

Sent at 3:10 PM on Monday

Sven: just one hour to go

grrrrrr

Sent at 3:18 PM on Monday

Argile: yeah, knuckle down

Sven: this has been weird, my one coworker has been set up at a conference table in my work area for most of the day, rather than in her office

her back is to me, but still, it makes me nervous

forces me to put more effort into the “look busy” ruse

Sent at 3:21 PM on Monday

Argile: bwahaha

at least you don’t have people walking by every second

Sven: very true

Sent at 3:26 PM on Monday

Sven: but are they really paying attention to what you’re doing as they walk past?

Sent at 3:28 PM on Monday

Argile: probably not, and they likely don’t care as long as work gets done

but it makes me twitch nonetheless

Sven: understandable

Sent at 3:33 PM on Monday

Argile: or maybe it’s just my synapses firing to have something to do

Sven: one can never be sure

Sent at 3:37 PM on Monday

Argile: tomorrow, I’m going to bring a project with me

going to re-type my novel from the start, smoothing over inconsistencies and such

Sent at 3:43 PM on Monday

Argile: figure I might as well use this time for something productive

I’m thinking you could use the day to teach yourself to crochet

Sent at 3:45 PM on Monday

Sven: actually, i just got something to do

and, as much as i’d love to know how to crochet, i’m pretty sure i lack the fine motor skills

Sent at 3:47 PM on Monday

Argile: I could hack rosetta stone for you and you could learn swahili

Sent at 3:49 PM on Monday

Sven: kind of you, but no thanks

Sent at 4:04 PM on Monday

Sven: apparently one of our subcontractors screwed up on a job last year, and we had to bill them for it

they paid up, but apparently lost the record of the transaction, so i had to track down the invoice and a check stub

Sent at 4:13 PM on Monday

Argile: haha nice

sounds like lovely business

this is an interesting list: http://www.marcandangel.com/2009/08/24/40-modern-nonfiction-books-everyone-should-read/

Sent at 4:18 PM on Monday

Sven: neat

i’ll get right on that

Sent at 4:29 PM on Monday

Sven: well, i’m gonna go home

you have a lovely evening

Sent at 4:32 PM on Monday

go to www.esquire.com and read the “Everybody Hates Obama” story

 Sent at 9:01 AM on Thursday

 Argile:  and then read the two-part series linked to it about the “birther” movement

 Sent at 9:06 AM on Thursday

 Sven:  I’m not seeing the article

 Sent at 9:08 AM on Thursday

 Argile:  http://www.esquire.com/the-side/richardson-report/obama-fascist-081809?click=pp

the other two are linked at the bottom

it’s a bit of reading, but it’s fascinating in a horrible kind of way

 Sent at 9:11 AM on Thursday

 Argile:  still reading?

 Sven:  yeah

I was interrupted for a while

business coach/former prof was here

and being kind of a dick, as usual

 Sent at 10:01 AM on Thursday

 Argile:  lol how so?

 Sven:  well, he has this way of completely looking down on his clients

as a business coach, he has this concept of how a business should run

but it comes from a “best case scenario” sort of mentality

we’re in a court battle with the city of indianola for a job that we did 4 years ago, and the allegations are bullshit

we lay pipe, but the problem is with the paving in some of the roads

city wants to blame us

business coach had a mortified look on his face when I said some of our fixed costs/operating expenses are a little skewed because we’re paying a lot of professional fees

basically, he thinks that, because he’s now our coach and he has me and a CPA on the scene, this ship should have righted itself a while ago

but the fact is, these things take time

he wants an hourly breakdown of capital costs/fixed costs/operating costs

but the fact is, the latter kind of fluctuates

and seeing as I have 1/2 a year of information, some of which may or may not be all that accurate given the sources

I can’t give him a concrete number right away every time he asks for one

 Sent at 10:07 AM on Thursday

 Sven:  so that wasn’t a very good way to start the day

I’m on part 2 of the birthers stuff, btw

 Sent at 10:10 AM on Thursday

 Argile:  yeah, it’s messed up

 Sent at 10:12 AM on Thursday

 Argile:  I’m not saying there aren’t left-wing nutjobs, but they tend to be peaceniks and over-academic types with little ability for violence

 Sent at 10:13 AM on Thursday

 Sven:  yeah…this brand of crazy is pretty scary

and dangerous

 Sent at 10:19 AM on Thursday

 Sven:  there, just finished

 Argile:  yep. now don’t you just feel happy and positive about our country?

 Sven:  not particularly

not that I’ve always had the most confidence in my fellow americans

I have to run and pick up payroll, bbl

 Sent at 10:21 AM on Thursday

 Sven:  there, done and done

 Sent at 10:46 AM on Thursday

 Argile:  you would be.

here – funny stuff: http://bit.ly/RWxrq

 Sent at 11:06 AM on Thursday

 Sven:  it’s telling me that link is broken

 Sent at 11:12 AM on Thursday

 Argile:  I’m betting it’s an overload in traffic

 Sven:  well, I’ll try to imagine how funny it was

 Sent at 11:15 AM on Thursday

 Argile:  yeah, you’ll really laugh

 Sent at 11:17 AM on Thursday

 Argile:  bam! smoked the Calvin and Hobbes reference

 Sven:  yes, we’re all very impressed

 Sent at 11:21 AM on Thursday

 Argile:  har, nice

 Sent at 11:24 AM on Thursday

 Argile:  Suddenly I really want to be the Intrepid Spaceman Spiff

 Sven:  it would be cool

I’d like to be shot down/captured less than him, though

 Argile:  yeah, he was a pretty crappy explorer

 Sent at 11:26 AM on Thursday

 Sent at 12:08 PM on Thursday

 Sven:  hmm, my internet quit

and quickbooks decided to quit randomly this morning

I guess each program I use is systematically quitting, one at a time

 Sent at 1:23 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  yes

they’re doing as I told them

 Sent at 1:45 PM on Thursday

 Sven:  guess that would make sense

 Argile:  true, true. I get two new clients next week. hurrah

 Sven:  awesome

 Sent at 1:55 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  yeah, more crap to do is always welcome

 Sent at 1:56 PM on Thursday

 Sven:  I’m sure it is

I have nothing to do the rest of the day except answer the phone

 Sent at 1:59 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  well aren’t you lucky

 Sven:  some might think so

 Sent at 2:05 PM on Thursday

 Sven:  I wouldn’t think you’d be one of them, th ough

 Sent at 2:06 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  no, I tend to spaz if there’s nothing going on

 Sent at 2:09 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  information superhighway is something you’ve heard before in reference to the internet, right?

 Sven:  yep

that’s an old one

 Argile:  yeah, I’m writing something that has a car metaphor in it

 Sven:  I see

but not really

 Sent at 2:16 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  exactly. I’m listening to Blink 182. I’m a rebel

I don’t need to explain myself to you

 Sven:  way to get defensive

I like it

 Sent at 2:20 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  Hey, stop liking things I do. I’m not some sort of clown dancing for your amusement

dammit, I’m my own man!

 Sven:  heeheehee

your indignation entertains me

 Sent at 2:23 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  you’re just a user, man

 Sven:  I get my kicks where I can

 Sent at 2:25 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  my kicks are going directly to your ass

 Sent at 2:28 PM on Thursday

 Sven:  yeah, come get some

 Sent at 2:30 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  Dude, you challenging me is like Peewee Herman calling out the Hulk

 Sven:  sure, when the hulk is in bruce banner form…after his crippling car accident…on his way home from his sex change operation

 Sent at 2:33 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  and yet… Peewee’s still a nudist with a house full of moronic singing furniture

 Sent at 2:37 PM on Thursday

 Sven:  hey, you wish you had singing furniture

 Sent at 2:38 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  I’d much rather have vulgar, sarcastic furniture that sounded like a stoned Seth Rogen

I think there’s a sitcom in there somewhere…

 Sven:  sure is

 Argile:  kind of an interesting article on employees selling stock

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2009/tc20090819_747999.htm

 Sent at 3:08 PM on Thursday

 Sven:  interesting

raises some good points

 Sent at 3:12 PM on Thursday

 Sven:  it is somewhat unsettling when the rats want off a ship

 Sent at 3:17 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  yeah.. better just kill’em all in the first place

 Sent at 3:18 PM on Thursday

 Sven:  HR might not be for you, then

 Sent at 3:19 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  whaddya mean? I’d be so eficient…

 Sven:  sure…cuz you’d do everything by yourself

 Sent at 3:21 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  with a giant sword

 Sven:  I don’t see how you could wrong, in that case

 Sent at 3:24 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  and a suit of black spiked armor

with a voice modulator that would make my words less the product of a human and more the sonic manifestation of dread

 Sent at 3:29 PM on Thursday

 Sven:  see, this is why you’d want to have some employees

if you fire them all, who’s left for you to intimidate with all this…stuf?

 Sent at 3:31 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  Ok, fine. I’d keep the cool ones

Then, I’d keep a job notice out, and freak the crap out of anyone who came in to interview

Can you imagine being greeted by a normal receptionist, being led to a small conference room and left there, sitting for a few minutes

and then the door opens and a monstrous black knight with a drawn sword enters the room?

 Sven:  I’m not even sure one can really say how they’d react in such a situation until it actually happens

 Argile:  http://www.instantshift.com/2009/08/16/65-incredible-examples-of-photo-manipulation-art/

these are some great picturse

 Sven:  yeah, these are cool

 Argile:  http://www.romain-laurent.com/?page=main

go to the right until you get to the beetle doing a handstand

 Sven:  that’s the coolest thing ever

 Sent at 4:15 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  I love these things.

I need to get a kick-ass printer and put posters of these all over my room

 Sven:  that’s an excellent goal

 Sent at 4:19 PM on Thursday

 Argile:  here ya go – people making posters to advertise fonts: http://blogpost.dj23.net/archives/90

 Sent at 4:23 PM on Thursday

 Sven:  that’s a very specialized brand of nerd-itude

 Argile:  some are pretty sweet: http://gcore.deviantart.com/art/Death-by-Typography-46884415

 Sven:  yeah, that’s kinda cool

but I’m gonna be running along

Sven: got nothing, but the boss just showed up so that might change

my cousin’s getting moved into the dorms at school today, so i’m meeting up with his family for lunch, so at least i have that going for me

Argile: sweetness, is this the goofy one you mentioned who likes videogames

Sven: this is the one that spent a year in a program for troubled teens

Argile: gotcha

alright, try to hold back your laughter/shock as you read this

it’s about a book published in 1990 – http://bit.ly/XvVOx

Sent at 9:18 AM on Wednesday

Sven: i don’t even know how to respond to this

except to say it sounds right up Bob’s alley

Sent at 9:26 AM on Wednesday

Argile: it’s hilarious

and depressing

that something like this could be published

but c’mon, “When asked why he wrote this epic [the author] replied “I bleed”.

how is that not great?

Sven: that is very great, in a surreal, post-modern, not-actually-answering-the-question sort of way

Sent at 9:31 AM on Wednesday

Argile: that page where he just starts listing names is classic

Sent at 9:35 AM on Wednesday

Sven: that is very intelligent, well thought-out, meaningful prose

i liked the analysis: it reads the way Rush Limbaugh believes liberals think

Sent at 9:37 AM on Wednesday

Argile: yeah.. I just couldn’t stop laughing as I read that

the whole thing is just so unbelievably horrible

Sven: it really is

not often you get a glimpse of pure lunacy in print

Sent at 9:39 AM on Wednesday

Argile: read some of the others he’s found

it’s all so awesoSven: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2009/08/a_studies_in_cr.php

Sent at 9:41 AM on Wednesday

Sven: “Who cares about elderly people”

that is the best, and probably least thought-out, title of a book i’ve ever seen

Sent at 9:46 AM on Wednesday

Argile: bbl, meeting again

Sent at 9:53 AM on Wednesday

Sven: well, i’m goin’ to lunch, so there

Sent at 10:47 AM on Wednesday

Argile: well, I hope you have an excellent meal. When you return: Your possible future: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32463904/ns/technology_and_science-games/

Sent at 11:51 AM on Wednesday

Sven: i suppose…although i’d like to think i’m on the more sane end of that spectrum

Sent at 12:17 PM on Wednesday

Argile: you would, wouldn’t you

I just bought myself a liter of diet coke

it was on sale

Sven: and we’re calling me a potential addict

Argile: hey, man, we all have our vices

Sven: very true

Sent at 1:00 PM on Wednesday

Argile: I’ve actually got work, it’s a novel feeling…

Sven: well, enjoy it

i’ve had stuff intermittently

like a stack of invoices from the end of June that for some reason we didn’t receive, or no one bothered to give me, until today

and i had to help one of the foremen use the fax machine to request transcripts for his kid

i’m not sure if it’s his son or daughter, the kid’s name is Tate

but i don’t ask questions

Sent at 1:05 PM on Wednesday

Argile: good policy, never question the actions of others, only accept and ignore

Sent at 1:06 PM on Wednesday

Sven: i have this sneaking suspicion that you’re being sarcastic

Sent at 1:10 PM on Wednesday

Argile: never ever

sarcasm is the voice of satan

Sven: see, you say that, but in such a way that causes me to not believe you

Sent at 1:13 PM on Wednesday

Argile: I find your lack of faith disturbing

Sven: guess i set you up pretty nicely for that one

Sent at 1:17 PM on Wednesday

Argile: just like shooting womp rats back home

Sent at 1:23 PM on Wednesday

Sven: you make me sad sometimes

Argile: I know.

The conversation was boring, anyway

Sven: actually, it’s “boring conversation anyway”

i know it’s a small difference, but for an afficianado such as yourself…

Sent at 1:34 PM on Wednesday

Argile: Don’t get cocky

Sent at 1:38 PM on Wednesday

Sven: good save

Sent at 1:39 PM on Wednesday

Argile: you can’t do any good back there!

Sven: kinda reaching, but ok

i just posted yesterday’s convo to the blog

even after some hack-and-slash editing, it’s still a long one

Sent at 1:47 PM on Wednesday

Argile: the sand people travel in single file, to hide their numbers

Sven: this is getting pretty abstract

Argile: I have a bad feeling about this

Sven: i wish i knew someone with a cube neighboring yours

i’d tell him/her to powerflick you in the ear

Sent at 1:55 PM on Wednesday

Argile: You may fire when ready.

Sent at 1:58 PM on Wednesday

Sven: unfortunately, this battle station is not fully armed or operational

Argile: You overestimate their chances

Sent at 2:00 PM on Wednesday

Sven: um, yeah

Argile: rebel scum

we don’t need (your) kind.

Sven: boo

boo on parenthetical amendments

Sent at 2:04 PM on Wednesday

Argile: Into the garbage chute, flyboy!

I didn’t have a choice.

Sven: uh huh…

i’m waiting for you to quote yourself out

Argile: Never tell me the odds

Sent at 2:10 PM on Wednesday

Sven: so, are things still busy on your end?

Sent at 2:15 PM on Wednesday

Argile: More or less. Copying/pasting some stuff.

As much as I would’ve loved to keep quoting, Star Wars and office work don’t have much in common

Sven: yeah, i was hoping that’d break it up

Sent at 2:18 PM on Wednesday

Sven: heeheehee

Favre: “If you’re a true Packer fan, you understand.”

as little respect as i have for Favre, and as skeptical as I am about how this’ll work out for the Vikings,

I gotta say that the consternation among Packer fans alone was totally worth it

Sent at 2:22 PM on Wednesday

Argile: true, true. It’s pretty hilarious

I was at the library over lunch and the staff there were arguing over who to be loyal to

My roommate has a friend that had a green and gold 4 tattooed over his heart – and that friend said that if farve ever when to the Vikings he would get it covered in black

Sven: i guess it’s time, then

Sent at 2:25 PM on Wednesday

Sven: that’s just but one of many examples of why tattoos are stupid

Sent at 2:27 PM on Wednesday

Argile: yes, yes indeed

if there’s one reason to see Fanboys, it’s to see Seth Rogen with a giant tattoo of Jar Jar Binks on his back with him saying “This guy’s gonna be awesome!”

Sven: that’s a very compelling reason, indeed

Sent at 2:31 PM on Wednesday

Sven: some more fun dramas in the workplace here

one of the foremen is evidently getting sued for more child support by his ex-wife

and my boss has a colonoscopy on friday

this is fun, because it’s stuff that doesn’t involve me, so i can just sit back and take it in

i feel bad for the foreman, though

he’s a really nice guy

Sent at 2:36 PM on Wednesday

Argile: yeah, that’s tough

Sent at 2:38 PM on Wednesday

Argile: I’m so very caffeinated right now. It’s like the joyous feeling of floating

also, Stacy isn’t going to make it tonight, so I’m off the hook there

Sven: well, looks like everything’s coming up roses for you after all

Argile: i dunno, it would’ve been cool to see her

Sven: yeah..to “see” her

Argile: although Lisa just asked if I wanted to drink champagne and play skipbo tonight

which I think is an odd combination

Sven: yeah…especially since skipbo kinda sucks

but maybe champagne makes it better

Sent at 2:53 PM on Wednesday

Argile: I can’t even remember what that game involves

Sent at 2:55 PM on Wednesday

Argile: wow, apparently signing out of gmail in another application signs out all instances

Sent at 3:01 PM on Wednesday

Sven: lesson learned

Sent at 3:02 PM on Wednesday

Sven: i don’t remember much about it either, but i remember playing it with my grandparents once, ‘cuz they got it as a gift, and none of us really liked it

i guess you could turn it into a drinking game, that might make it more fun

Argile: well, she’ll have champagne, I guess

Sven: ever consider making a casual liberal political comment around her?

i think it’d be pretty funny

Sent at 3:09 PM on Wednesday

Argile: it probably would be, but I’ll wait on that one

I prefer my casual relationships to avoid politics

and by casual relationships, I mean potential prospects

Sven: i figured

i remember her fb status after the election depicted a level of despair and hatred approaching my own after the 2004 election

Sent at 3:13 PM on Wednesday

Argile: lol

Sven: that was more or less my reaction

Argile: yeah, I just figure that because her political beliefs will have zero impact on my own, or my life in general, that I’ll just ignore them

Sven: makes sense

Sent at 3:15 PM on Wednesday

Argile: also – I’m too lazy to care

Sven: now there’s a reason i can get behind

Sent at 3:18 PM on Wednesday

Argile: thought so

thinking you should get a ps3 though

as of sept. 1st, the new version is on $300

free online (unlike xbox)

Sven: really

how much crossover between xbox and ps3 as far as games go?

*xbox 360, obviously

Argile: pretty much every major release now goes for both consoles, is there a particular one you were curious about?

also, xbox costs the same and doesn’t come with wifi or blu-ray

Sven: right

there wasn’t any game in particular, i just remember that there was a pretty long period where xbox 360 had a bazillion games to the ps3’s 5 or so

well, i’ll have to look into that, then

Argile: haha, true that

search “PS3 Slim” and you’ll get the details

Sven: my school’s financial aid office finally took their heads out of their asses, and i paid for this semester, so i don’t have any major costs coming up for a few months now

aside from paying my folks back their $1500

but that doesn’t have to be in a lump

Sent at 3:27 PM on Wednesday

Argile: always good

Yeah, I’m trying to build a decent cash base so I can start taking some monthyl payments from my parents

well, some other ones, anyway

Sven: like what?

Argile: I haven’t been paying insurance on the car, and my loans are going to start collecting in november

Sven: gotcha

Argile: also, I’ll actually start paying for health insurance through work in september

Sven: right

it was kind of a bitch paying for a year’s worth in one lump sum, but now that i’ve pretty much weathered that storm, it’s nice not to have to worry about it

Argile: course, within a couple months, I get a couple grand raise…

Sven: damn

Argile: it amounts to about $50 more per paycheck

Sven: you can do all sorts of stuff with that

Argile: yeah… I’m not really concerned about money right now

Sven: i would hope not

Argile: talked with Jimbo last night, he said he didn’t plan on staying where he worked more than a year

Sven: really

then what?

Argile: he didn’t really say, he’s still with his parents

Sven: wtf?

Argile: so, maybe he plans on not getting a place so he can leave whenever

Sven: guess that makes sense

Argile: he said something about saving money

Sven: i suppose

funny, it always seemed like he chafed more than anyone else at the idea of living with his family

so, we still on for labor day weekend?

Sent at 3:36 PM on Wednesday

Argile: think so – we decided to draft a week from sunday

which means, on that sunday, I’ll be drafting two leagues on one day

Sven: nice

Argile: wouldn’t that be crazy to run two drafts at once?

Sven: that would be tiring

um, what time that sunday?

Sent at 3:38 PM on Wednesday

Argile: haven’t set that yet, gonna be afternoon or evening

I have to check with my other draft

Sven: hopefully evening

i’ll be in sioux city that weekend visiting my grandparents, and my brother and his wife wh’ll be on their way to duluth

Sent at 3:43 PM on Wednesday

Argile: ah, so later evening?

Sven: preferably

i’ll probably be getting back to DSM around 4 or 5, so any time after that really

Argile: gotcha

Sent at 3:49 PM on Wednesday

Sven: bloop de bloop de bloooooo…

Sent at 3:54 PM on Wednesday

Argile: my thoughts exactly

Sven: thing slow down for you too

?

Argile: not really, I’m using outlook to hack into an email for me

Sven: awesome…

Sent at 3:58 PM on Wednesday

Argile: I could, theoretically, spy on this guy’s email forever

Sven: and this guy is…?

Argile: a retired guy selling stuff

Sven: i see

Sent at 4:02 PM on Wednesday

Argile: do you? do you really?!?

Sven: actually, not really

i was hoping you wouldn’t probe further

Sent at 4:06 PM on Wednesday

Argile: darn

Sent at 4:10 PM on Wednesday

Sven: well, living with disappointment is part of life

Sent at 4:11 PM on Wednesday

Argile: no

disappointment must be crushed like an insect beneath my boot of happiness

Sven: i had a feeling that statement would get you going

heh heh..”boot of happiness”

such a counter-intuitive metaphor

Argile: some people need happiness to be thrust upon them

Sven: yeah…and even then they tend to resist

Sent at 4:15 PM on Wednesday

Argile: which means they must be ground into dust until they accept the true way

Sven: did you recently convert to scientology or something?

Argile: convert? I have merely become enlightened as to the real order of the universe

Sven: yeah, being the sci-fi nut you are, i figured it was only a matter of time until you drank the kool-aid

Sent at 4:19 PM on Wednesday

Argile: i checked out 4 sci-fi books at the library today. They will deepen my understanding of the lifestream which connects all living things

btw, that last bit has nothing to do with scientology, it’s actually part of a final fantasy game

because, like most people, I know very little about the religion I claim to practice

Sven: glad to hear it

Sent at 4:23 PM on Wednesday

Argile: i’m tempted to eat my 5th nutrigrain bar of the day…

Sven: go for it

Argile: ehhhhhhhhhhhh… it’s so close to leaving time though

Sven: yeah, i’m staying another 5 minutes

you know, the last half-hour until quitting time frequently feels the longest

why make it feel like it’s lasting even longer?

Argile: here, amuse thyself: event:http://bit.ly/6g7tO

Sent at 4:26 PM on Wednesday

Sven: for my money, it doesn’t get any better than penguin toss

Sent at 4:30 PM on Wednesday

Sven: well, i’m outta here

Argile: haha

alright

Sven:  it’ll be a couple months

right now i’m in financial shambles because a couple of sizeable bills came up in a short time span: health insurance and tuition

Argile: again, I’m not saying Macs are bad computers, I’m saying they’re over-priced for what you want out of them

even if you have no desire to play games, you could pay $300 – $400 and get a fine PC, $500 for a good laptop that’d do everything your mac does

and that extra $500 you’d have in savings? that’s more than a month’s rent, a game console, or a good start to a savings account

 Sven:  but it doesn’t do it the same way as my mac does

 Sent at 9:15 AM on Tuesday

 Sven:  anyway, it’s a decision for a later time

 Argile:  but this is a fun argument

 Sven:  yeah, found another topic near and dear to your heart

 Argile:  also, I’m liking the fact that your only point so far has been that you perceive it as being easier

 Sent at 9:18 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  and yeah, I’m biased towards windows, but I’ve had the same computer since 2005 too

 Sent at 9:23 AM on Tuesday

 Sven:  basically, i sit at a PC all day at work, and i use a mac at home

so the comparison is a daily thing

and i like using my mac better

it’s cranky from a lot of use, especially since it’s a laptop and has been dragged around a lot, and there was a period where i didn’t have a laptop case for it

it’s wear and tear that makes me want a new one

Sent at 9:28 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  yeah, yeah, ok. Good enough.

but what it comes down to is that you’re willing to pay a substantial premium for look and feel, and that’s ok

 Sven:  glad you’re coming with me on this

 Argile:  Oh, I still think it’s dippy, and it doesn’t make sense from an accounting perspective, but it’s your money

 Sven:  hey, accounting allows for intangibles

it’s kind of a pain in the ass, in a lot of ways, but it’s there

 Argile:  uh huh

it’s an unnecessary expense

much like going out for drinks, or eating at a restaurant, or buying organic food

and you’re fully entitled to make that choice

I just had to make sure you knew about the alternative

 Sven:  well, i appreciate that you’re looking out for me

 Argile:  Also, I reserve the right to mock you mercilessly for buying a mac

 Sven:  by all means

us mac people are accustomed to that

so, i got dragged to the state fair last night, and kinda wound up being 5th wheel

 Argile:  yay?

 Sven:  it was still on ok time

Libby asked me if i wanted to go with her and her bf, and she said they were “meeting a couple people there”

i initially begged off, saying i didn’t have any money

so Libby offered to pay, since it’s half price between 5 pm and 10 pm on weeknights

but it turns out, if you go to the fair with zero cash, it’s kinda uncool to watch everyone else eating the novel fair food and whatnot

but there was a fun hypnotist show, and we checked out the butter cow

and a couple seconds of Coolio

so it was ok

thing was, i couldn’t tell if i was 5th wheel or not for a while

the 2 people we met up with seemed couple-ish, but not completely

afterwards on the way to the car, libby explained their sort of “budding romance” situation

which pretty much confirmed that i was, in fact, 5th wheel

 Sent at 9:51 AM on Tuesday

 Sven:  so, i kinda had to take the bad with the good

at least it got me off my ass for a few hours

and i ran into rob when we first got there

 Sent at 9:52 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  score?

 Sent at 9:53 AM on Tuesday

 Sven:  well, again, from the “anything that’s not bad must be good” mindset, sure

Argile:  for some reason Sascha is driving up from appleton tomorrow for a night

 Sven:  uh oh

 Argile:  that was my thought, followed quickly by “I’m bored”, and “She’s going right back to Des Moines”

 Sven:  she’s going to des moines from EC?

 Argile:  no, but she’s moving back to stay this weekend

and it’s only one night, so it’s not a huge deal

 Sven:  no, it never really was if i understood the situation correctly

 Argile:  yeah, I still think she’s reading more into it than there is, but whatever

 Sven:  heeheehee

 Argile:  meh, I’ve dealt with worse

 Sven:  of course you have, i don’t think you’re really all that annoyed with this situation

 Argile:  no, though if she comes up here all love-struck for no reason, there’s going to be problems

 Sven:  and you thought you’d be able to foist her off on me

 Argile:  I blame that on your lack of effort

 Sven:  hey, i gave it a shot earlier this summer

she surrounded herself with buffers

it was pretty much hopeless to start with

 Sent at 11:52 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  you know, that’s the attitude of a winner right there

 Sven:  hey, i’m “part of the entourage”

it’s a tall order to have to follow you

 Argile:  I’m sure it is

not that it’s always easy to be the first one in, either

 Sven:  please tell me you don’t mean that the way it sounds

 Sent at 11:57 AM on Tuesday

 Argile:  no, it wasn’t a stupid metaphor

and I’m not always leading either, an entourage isn’t a line or an administration, its a group of people that hang out together

I’m a part of your entourage as much as you are of mine

it’s just my strange friends decided to call it that

Helga could’ve called us your entourage just as easy

 Sven:  yeah, i suppose

 Sent at 12:02 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  but, while Helga seemed to pretty much look down on all of us, i kinda got the impression from Sascha and Jenny that they just looked down on matt and me

 Sent at 12:05 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  but of course, that’s just impressions

 Sent at 12:06 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  it’s an issue of confidence

you have to come across as a challenge, someone interesting enough to engage them, but not worship them

you have that, but usually only after you’ve known people for awhile, and, for whatever reason, never with Helga

Matt never has it at all until he’s hammered, at which point he can’t make use of it

 Sent at 12:11 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  the only reason I have any is because I had to learn how to deal with high people who didn’t respond to anything other than firm challenges

There’s a line between confidence and arrogance that’s awfully thin, and I’ve got issues with that, but it’s better to be a little arrogant than submissive

 Sent at 12:13 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  Jenny and Sascha were simply responding to what they unconsciously perceived to be people they could walk all over

 Sent at 12:15 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  funny how that works

 Sent at 12:17 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  i’m pretty sure they do that just because i wear glasses

 Argile:  which would explain matt as well

 Sven:  well, his problem is he’s short

 Argile:  and Ronnie

 Sven:  hey, i’m just injecting a bit of levity into the conversation

‘pologies

 Argile:  oh, me too

for instance, Jenny’s current b/f is a pudgy goofy lookin’ guy

however, according to her, he’s funny and out-going

outgoing, really, is just another term for confidence

 Sent at 12:21 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  and matt could always wear platforms

 Sven:  that would be really funny

anyway, it’s not identifying the problem that’s eluded me so much as the solution

i mean, i know why i can’t breathe underwater

it’s solving that one that’s trickier

although that’s a bad example because you’d probably just cite SCUBA

 Sent at 12:25 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  the solution is to get yourself out there more

put yourself in situations where you’re not entirely comfortable and retain your humor and spirit

 Sent at 12:27 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  it’s like anything else, practice practice practice until your default attitude when presented with a new situation is confident and funny

It took me a lot of parties at Alex’s mansion, with tons of different people, to learn that

and what helped me was that I knew the mansion better than anyone except Al, so I could use that as a base for my confidence

 Sent at 12:30 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  so, I guess what I’m saying is that you should find groups around topics or places you know well

like movies, or business, etc.

 Sven:  well, apparently i might be going to a Vikings preseason party on friday

 Argile:  well there ya go!

just don’t be a wallflower

 Sven:  yessir

 Argile:  not sayin’ that ya gotta be loud and noisy, but engage people

 Sent at 12:33 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  right, duly noted

 Sent at 12:37 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  you always say that, have things changed?

 Sven:  guess we’ll find out on friday, won’t we?

 Sent at 12:38 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  in the meantime, libby and the bf are celebrating their 6-month anniversary so they’ll be out of the house for most of the night…and i suspect, otherwise occupied when they come back

so i’m gonna enjoy the hell out of some spaghetti, Rescue Me, and a workout

and seeing as i was sociable 2 of the last 3 nights, i’m gonna enjoy tonight guilt-free

 Sent at 12:41 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  oh, please do

by christ, nobody needs to be sociable every night

 Sven:  let alone me

 Argile:  you just have to get to the point where you can make the most of it when you are out and about

 Sent at 12:43 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  gettin’ there

i’m just excited to get to see an ep of Rescue Me on its original air date

usually those two bogart the TV on mondays and tuesdays

 Sent at 12:45 PM on Tuesday

on those nights they bogart the tv, whaddya do?

 Sven:  sometimes i’ll hang out with them, but i try to give them their space, too

in which case, it’s either the basement or my room for me

 Sent at 12:49 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  or, the library, or a bookstore, or a coffee shop, or a park

 Sven:  i suppose…

coffee shop or a bookstore i might be tempted to buy something, though

 Sent at 12:55 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  all the better for you to learn to resist said temptation

 Sven:  hey, have you already forgotten the link you sent me a while back about temptation?

 Argile:  well, ok, but I doubt a latte or a paperback is going to push you over that brink you’re standing on

 Sven:  that’s how it starts, my friend

 Sent at 12:59 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  …

 Sent at 1:01 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  there are lots of things out there, that, taken in isolation, wouldn’t push one over the brink

the aggregation of these items, however…

you see where i’m going with this

 Argile:  …

 Sven:  why Argile, you appear to be speechless

 Argile:  those are my “Ellipses of Disdain”

 Sven:  i can feel the ice from here

 Sent at 1:04 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  I’m not saying you have to be social every night, but you’re scared to go to a bookstore?

 Sven:  who said anything about scared?

 Sent at 1:08 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  i’m simply disinclined to sit at a coffeeshop or bookstore when i can do the same things i’d be doing there at home, and for less money

after all, it also takes gas to get to a coffeeshop or bookstore

 Sent at 1:10 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  what do you do when you’re sitting at home and they have the tv?

 Sven:  i’m on my computer or something, and once i finally get a library card, i’ll be reading

if i wanted coffee, i could make myself some

 Argile:  you’ve been talking about this library card for weeks

 Sven:  hey, it’s gonna happen

up to this point, i’ve also been working on grad course stuff, which is also something i could do at the bookstore

 Argile:  mhmm

 Sent at 1:14 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  gotta tell ya, a lot of cool things happen by chance, but you have to put yourself in an area to experience them

for instance, I reconnected with Katie because I met her at an Express game

that I went to with a friend because we were bored

I met Mariokart girl because I went to the gym vs. doing push-ups in my room

Rob meets all these crazy people because he puts himself in places where he runs into them

 Sent at 1:17 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  sometimes you get shoved off of a lofted bed, sure, but other times you meet some really special people

Sent at 1:38 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  and I just got some free fudge

because I’m awesome

 Sven:  bastard

 Argile:  goes along with the sampler platter of erbs and gerbs we had yesterday

and there’s homemade peach pie still in the work room

 Sven:  i’ve felt unmitigated hatred toward you before, but it’s never been so strong as right now

 Sent at 1:42 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  goooood, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering! (cackle)

 Sent at 1:46 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  i guess i skipped the anger stage

or at least sped through it

 Sent at 1:48 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  means you’re just really in touch with the dark side

 Sven:  guess that makes sense

now to cause some suffering

hate to leave a dark side transition incomplete

 Argile:  I expect bad things from you

 Sven:  i’ll try not to disappoint

Sent at 2:26 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  did you ever take a lunch break?

 Sent at 2:31 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  yeah, but you kept nattering so I wasn’t really able to do anything

I’ve been sitting at my desk and reading over lunch lately

just kidding about the nattering. It was more like a loud, piercing whine coming over the internet

 Sven:  that’s more like it

 Sent at 2:36 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  I had stuff to do for a bit. It was nice. Now it’s over.

 Sven:  i’m sure it was great while it lasted

 Sent at 2:42 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  it was. Now I have this to play with: http://www.file-swap.com/

 Sven:  hmm

i think i’d get in trouble if i used any of the files currently at my disposal

 Argile:  just save an image from a random web site and try it

 Sent at 2:48 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  wow. so I shared that bunny suck thing I showed you yesterday and got an awful picture of three buck-tooth dogs

 Sent at 2:50 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  i shared a picture of a penguin chick, and i got some girl in fishnets singing into a microphone

fascinating site there

 Sent at 2:52 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  The most depressing thing you’ll see all day: http://bit.ly/fszC6

 Sven:  sigh…

 Argile:  my annual salary is worth 7.2 passing yards from Eli Manning

 Sven:  mine’s not worth even that much

 Argile:  450 years to make 1 year of his

wow

 Sven:  pretty unreal

god bless the free market system

clearly it places high value on those things that should be valued highly

 Argile:  but hey, I’m worth more than one out for CC Sabathia!

woo!

 Sent at 2:56 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  lol, farve signed a contract

 Sven:  wow

just…

wow

 Sent at 3:02 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  well, this should be fun

 Sent at 3:04 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  our division just got hyper-competitive again

last year, it was you guys, now we’ve got 3 teams with quarterbacks and running backs

and those poor lions…

 Sent at 3:06 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  yeah…poor poor lions

 Argile:  however, they did win their preseason game, so they’re no longer completely winless

 Sven:  well, that’s gotta feel good

 Sent at 3:09 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  Great quote from a NYT article: “With only four weeks’ vacation in a supportive setting free of bullies and tasers, the formerly stressed rats looked just like “normal”.

 Sven:  even after reading that a couple times, i’m still not 100% sure what’s going on there

 Sent at 3:13 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  http://bit.ly/BrVyn

 Sent at 3:17 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  props to the writer for the David Lynch reference

 Argile:  yeah, you would notice that

 Sent at 3:19 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  and i did

 Sent at 3:22 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  man, i’m gonna fall asleep on my desk pretty soon

i’ve been sitting here waiting for a subcontractor grading number for a while now

and we need it for a bid that we have to fax out by 4

 Sent at 3:29 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  one of the guys in my bro’s fantasy league just sent out an email asking if we could postpone the draft so he can fly to MN and “turn brett favre into brett shiavo”

i think he’s a packer fan

 Argile:  haha, nice

that’s also very politically incorrect

 Sven:  i should show you some of the other things that have shown up in my inbox because of this league

 Sent at 3:35 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  Great – better make sure they never fire you. Also – top 3 twitterers (Ashton Kutcher, Ellen DeGeneres, and Britney Spears) combined have more followers than Austria has people

 Sven:  it all comes to my gmail inbox anyway

 Sent at 3:38 PM on Tuesday

 Sven:  you and your twitter

 Argile:  it’s so totally awesome

actually, I’m really bored with it

 Sven:  not surprised

 Argile:  It works well if you’re in a news-based job, where information is constantly flowing your way

or if you’re a blogger that needs new info for analysis

but for someone in my position, it’s pretty pointless

except for research

 Sven:  it’d be even more pointless for someone like me

 Sent at 3:45 PM on Tuesday

 Argile:  exactly

Facebook is more than enough for every non-journalist/non-news-junkie out there

 Sven:  mos def

Sven::  you know, just kickin’ it

you?

Sent at 8:50 AM on Monday

Argile: listening to a novel and catching up on random email

Sven::  sounds exciting

Sent at 8:54 AM on Monday

Argile: positively thrilling

Sent at 8:55 AM on Monday

Argile: this audiobook is being read by a very british guy, pretty awesome

Sven::  neat

i’m just waiting for my boss to get back from a jobsite so we can work on a couple of bids

the project estimator is on vacation this week, so the boss will be a bit more involved with things

since he’s kind of a hyperactive guy, this should be interesting

Sent at 8:57 AM on Monday

Argile: nice – I’ve got monday morning meeting, bbl

Sent at 8:59 AM on Monday

Argile: so, do anything inspiring this weekend?

Sent at 9:33 AM on Monday

Sven::  saw District 9

Sent at 9:38 AM on Monday

Sven::  which was pretty damn cool

Sent at 9:39 AM on Monday

Sven::  and hung out and got drunk w/the roommate and a couple of her friends

Argile: haha, meet any new ladies

Sven::  not really

it was actually her bf, and then another girl who already has a bf, but i wouldn’t be interested in her anyway

she’s kinda overly negative

and very…large

Argile: oh, well, screw that then

Sven::  yeah

but hey, had a chocolate cake shot

that was really tasty

and the roommate made us all dinner, and cheesecake for dessert

so a good night, all in all

Argile: yeah, not bad

Sven::  i suppose your weekend was the usual debauchery?

Argile: most definitely – quite a night on water street friday

Schye’s last weekend (He’s in ilinois now)

so we went on a major pub crawl, ber, car-bombs, all kinds of craziness

Sven::  right on

Argile: went out w/ Krystal saturday night, met up with a bunch of ther random peole, played foosball

man, I can’t spell when listening to a book

and then yesterday was episodes of rescue me while cleaning the apartment

Sent at 9:46 AM on Monday

Sven::  not too shabby

Sent at 9:49 AM on Monday

Argile: yeah, trying to find new ways to boost my applicable knowledge for my career

Sent at 9:51 AM on Monday

Argile: in other words, what should I be doing in every second of my spare time in order to enhance my life

Sent at 9:52 AM on Monday

Sven::  sounds…intense

Sent at 9:54 AM on Monday

Argile: eh, it just means more multi-tasking

and listening to audiobooks/podcasts instead of music all the time

Sent at 9:58 AM on Monday

Sven::  good luck absorbing audiobooks or podcasts while working

if i’m even listening to music while working, i’ll suddenly realize i didn’t hear a single beat of the last 3 songs i was listening to

Sent at 10:02 AM on Monday

Argile: yeah, but I’m a multi-tasking machine, to the point where I probably absorb less of each task I do relative to the number of tasks I’m doing, but I absorb things at decent rate when I try

Sent at 10:04 AM on Monday

Sven::  yeah, i’ve seen your multi-tasking absorption levels

Argile: well, I still got out of college in under 4 years with over a 3.5, so apparently I’m not terrible

Sven::  i was thinking more of when we’d be watching The Shield, and you’d be on your computer

matt or i would frequently have to catch you up, even though you were in the room

Sent at 10:07 AM on Monday

Argile: difference, though is that I really didn’t care about the shield, show never really appealed to me

Sven::  which is just too bad

probably one of the better cop shows out there

Argile: yeah, but cop shows aren’t really my thing

Sven::  they aren’t mine, either

not normally

i never really even liked CSI all that much

Argile: ewww

can you say “formulaic”?

Sven::  still, it is an ultra-popular show

never really got into law and order, either

Argile: ugh

I’m more about edgier, goofier shows like Firefly

Six Feet Under, etc.

Sven::  fair enough

although for its genre, The Shield was pretty edgy

Argile: it was basically about “tough” cops dealing with not getting paid enough, etc

Comparing that to Rescue Me, there’s so much less humor in the Shield, and Chickless (sp?) is much less appealing than Leary

Sent at 10:12 AM on Monday

Sven::  where The Shield was edgy was in that the show’s main protagonist kills another cop in the first episode

your main “heroes” of the show are the definition of anti-hero

what i liked about The Shield, and this was one of the reasons i loved The Wire also, was that the characters were so complex and developed, that you could never really completely root for or against anyone

it wasn’t a “good vs evil” sort of dichotomy

that’s fine for your fantasy/sci-fi sort of stories

but it feels more real when you have characters on all sides of a conflict and at times you totally identify, and other times you really want them to get comeuppance

Sent at 10:15 AM on Monday

Argile: yeah, but I never had sympathy for chickless. therefore I never really gave a crap about him, or shane, his moronic partner

it’s a preference thing

Sven::  that’s fair, but given that you were always doing 2 or 3 other things while watching, it’s not hard to imagine why you didn’t care so much about them

Argile: but then, even though I was doing a zillion things while watching SFU, Rescue Me, etc., I still care about those characters

Sven::  i suppose

glad  you’re liking Rescue Me, anyway

i think i might have gotten my roommate’s boyfriend into that show last night, too

they were hangin’ out in the living room when i watched it last night

Argile: yeah, well, when you start liking battlestar galactica or Firefly, maybe I’ll spare a shred of respect for you too

Sven::  i liked Firefly

Argile: haha, see? then I have a shred of respect for you

Sven::  that’s a relief

Sent at 10:21 AM on Monday

Argile: “She was not exactly handsome, but capable of passing for that at a little distance” – honesty from Thomas Hardy

Sven::  ouch

if distance is required for a girl to just look handsome…

try calling a girl handsome some time, see how offended she gets

Sent at 10:25 AM on Monday

Argile: I might just do that

Sven::  try it on Katie, it’ll be funny

Sent at 10:26 AM on Monday

Argile: probably would be

Sent at 10:29 AM on Monday

Sven::  i get my new phone today, i’m excited

Argile: woo?

how’d your draft go for your brother’s league?

Sven::  we don’t draft until labor day

but the trash talk is flying fast and hard

Argile: michael vick #1!

Sven::  yeah, i’m 8th in the draft order, but he probaby won’t last that long

<thick sarcasm>

Argile: who’re you thinking of drafting?

Sven::  i’m not sure

haven’t devoted much thought yet, honestly

i need to see some RB and QB lists to jog the ol’ football memory

Argile: lol

I drafted for my brother this weekend, it was solid practice

Sven::  i’ll bet

any top-shelf draft picks?

Argile: they’ve got a 3 WR, 2 RB, 1 WR/R setup

Sent at 10:34 AM on Monday

Argile: so I managed, with the last pick (So I had 2 in a row) to get him Steve Slaton, Chris Johnson, Marshawn Lynch, Carson Palmer, Joe Flacco, and a random assortment of others I can’t remember

Sven::  not too shabby

Sent at 10:36 AM on Monday

Argile: yeah, I have my reasons for those picks – dark, complex reasons not immediately apparent to those lacking in the secret sciences of statistical success

Sven::  very nice alliteration

but i think the odds of Palmer getting hurt again may not be in your favor

Argile: hence Joe Flacco, who did well last year

also, Palmer has a much revamped team

Sven::  revamped offensive line?

Argile: a variety of things

can’t give them away without displaying certain strategies of my draft

Sent at 10:45 AM on Monday

Sven::  i do believe you’re now talking out of your ass

Argile: perhaps my ass is excellent at fantasy football

Sent at 10:46 AM on Monday

Sven::  certainly, that is a possibility

Sent at 10:47 AM on Monday

Argile: Facebook’s going to swallow the internet! http://bit.ly/BWHbV

Sent at 10:54 AM on Monday

Sven::  it’s an unstoppable juggernaut, and will probably enslave humanity

Argile: yeah, Mark Zuckerberg is humanity’s new overlord

Sent at 10:57 AM on Monday

Sven::  man, i brought leftover pizza for lunch today and i wanna eat it

Argile: it’s probably late enough to

Sven::  wow, you enabler you

Sent at 11:00 AM on Monday

Argile: you know you want it

Sent at 11:04 AM on Monday

Sven::  you’re evil

Argile: I’m glad you’ve finally noticed

another quote from Hardy: Even though Marriage would mash up his dreams for degrees, scholarship, and prestige…”

this guy is ridiculously honest

Sven::  brutally so

Argile: “He kept up the fictitious idea of her to soothe him”

ahahahaha

Sven::  sounds like you’re kind of guy

Argile: the scientific report you never thought you’d see: http://www.newsweek.com//frameset.aspx/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mathstat.uottawa.ca%2F~rsmith%2FZombies.pdf

Sent at 11:10 AM on Monday

Sven::  wow, it’s like Zombie Survival Handbook taken a few steps further

Sent at 11:11 AM on Monday

Argile: yeah, some crazy equations

Sent at 11:13 AM on Monday

Sven::  kinda have to wonder who had the disposable funding to produce this

Argile: I’m sure they had a federal grant

Sven::  our tax dollars at work

Argile: but hey, now we’ll have excellent models should the dead begin to walk again

Sven::  i feel safer already

Argile: so our inevitable doom is immediately apparent

Sent at 11:15 AM on Monday

Argile: get yourself a library card yet?

Sven::  not yet

getting there

Sent at 11:17 AM on Monday

Argile: lazy sob

Sent at 11:21 AM on Monday

Argile: there are so many good books out there that you could be reading

Sent at 11:24 AM on Monday

Sven::  i’m getting around to it

but my “thing to take care of” for this past weekend was getting a haircut

i’ll try to get the library card taken care of this weekend

Sent at 11:25 AM on Monday

Argile: lol, a haircut was your big weekend goal?

Sent at 11:26 AM on Monday

Argile: so, verdict, I just discovered that the bread I took a bite out of had a little bit of mold on it

I tore off the little piece with the mold, which was near where I took the bite

If I ate mold, will I die?

Sven::  i’d say there’s a small chance

more likely, you’ll just feel kinda sick for a bit

i recommend taking a shot of whiskey or something, kill the bacteria/etc

Argile: what if I eat the rest of the sandwich that doesn’t look moldy?

Sven::  eh, you’ll be fine

Argile: cool, b/c I already did

Sent at 11:31 AM on Monday

Sven::  attaboy

Sent at 11:34 AM on Monday

Argile: alright, lunch break over – now I’ve gotta think of something to do

Sent at 12:34 PM on Monday

Sven::  still waiting on unresponsive clients?

Argile: bet your ass I am

Sven::  that sucks

Argile: it’s kinda sickening how much work I could be doing, and how much better off these clients would be if they took 10 minutes to respond

in other news, my gf from senior year of high school just got engaged

Sven::  her?

Sent at 12:38 PM on Monday

Argile: yep

Sven::  crazy

Argile: yeah, I’m slightly impressed this guy has the stamina to keep up with her

Sven::  maybe he’s as batshit as she is

Argile: nah, he’s actually a nice, quiet sort – I’ve met him

Sven::  well then

good for her

Argile: I like to think the seeds of corruption I planted back then made the road a little easier for him

Sven::  probably true

Sent at 12:43 PM on Monday

Sven::  think  you’ll be invited to the wedding?

Argile: eh, doubt it

Sven::  you sound broken up about that

Argile: I’ve seen her randomly a couple of times this summer, but I doubt her family would really want me there

Sven::  heh heh

Argile: exactly. So no, I’m not really broken up about it

also, receptions with conservative christian families can’t be much fun

Sven::  true dat

Sent at 12:45 PM on Monday

Argile: maybe I’ll crash it

make a drunken proclamation of love or some such nonsense

and then run away making the Xoidberg noise

Sven::  that would be friggin’ awesome

Sent at 12:47 PM on Monday

Sven::  or say something like, “(insert groom’s name), i can say from experience that you just landed yourself a wild one. Right, (her dad’s name)?”

Argile: and you’ll be ready with the getaway car? There’ll probably be gunfire

Sven::  sure, no problem

Sent at 12:49 PM on Monday

Argile: whew, paycheck!

Sven::  bitchin’

Argile: but that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that, with the new madden game, I’m playing as the bears in an online franchise

and hopefully, somebody will have joined as the packers so I can play the first game

Sent at 12:58 PM on Monday

Sven::  um, i hope so too

Sent at 12:59 PM on Monday

Argile: your lack of enthusiasm for my virtual football activities has been noted and catalogued

Sven::  and appropriate retribution plotted?

Sent at 1:08 PM on Monday

Argile: plotted and proper parties notified. You’ll be receiving your disaster shortly.

Sven::  will i have to sign for it?

Sent at 1:11 PM on Monday

Argile: No, but first, check this out: http://bit.ly/1uAXN

Sven::  that’s some ice-cold shit, man

Argile: hah, it’s what you get

now, check this out, it’s actually cool: www.screenjelly.com

it’s utterly free screen-capture tutorials

and whatever else

so all those times I have to tell you how to do things on your computer, I can just show it to you

Sven::  sweet

Sent at 1:14 PM on Monday

Argile: sigh. once again, your lack of appreciation for these nifty things is disappointing

Sven::  what?

i said it was sweet

Argile: I want lots of exclamation points and scattered caps

Sven::  ah, silly me

a thousand apologies

but if i was to do that now, i’m afraid it would appear insincere and conciliatory

Sent at 1:26 PM on Monday

Argile: yes, yes, I understand

oh, btw, picked up the 3rd character in earthbound this weekend, I gave the guy with the glasses your name

so feel honored

Sven::  oh, i do

it’s gonna be a good week, just because of that

Sent at 1:31 PM on Monday

Sven::  unless the character takes on a voodoo doll-like quality, and i periodically feel like i’ve been bit by a dog or whatever

Sent at 1:33 PM on Monday

Argile: Just look out for “SMAAAAAAASH!!!!” in giant bubble letters. That’s always the first sign of trouble

Sven::  this sounds like a fun idea for a short story or something

although i’m sure similar stuff has sort of been done

Sent at 1:35 PM on Monday

Argile: you mean a voodoo video-game link thing?

Sven::  yep

but the mental image of me just sitting at my desk, entering stuff into spreadsheets when suddenly i go flying across the room and into a wall amuses

me

Sent at 1:41 PM on Monday

Argile: I don’t find that surprising at all. You were always all for spontaneous, ridiculous things.

Sent at 1:46 PM on Monday

Sven::  that’s just my sense of humor

Sent at 1:48 PM on Monday

Sven::  hmm, my boss said a temp would be coming in this week in the afternoons to answer the phone for us while the other person is on vacation

no temp has showed

which is probably just as well, the phone hasn’t rang in 2 hours

Argile: haha, talk about financial inefficiency there

Sven::  no kidding

Sent at 1:55 PM on Monday

Sven::  heard from your clients yet?

Sent at 1:59 PM on Monday

Argile: whaddya think?

Sven::  gonna go with a no on that one

ooh, my phone’s been delivered!

i’m gonna go grab it, before someone steals it off my stoop

Argile: In my annoyance, I’m eating sticks of gum like a cow eats grass

oh, run run run

Sven: did not receive your chat.

Sven::  ah, have my phone

now to start playing with it

are you doing the Calvin thing with the gum?

Argile: kinda, yeah, though they’re not that big

I got a call from one of my clients – and by “my client”, I mean a person I was supposedly done with

someone whose site was a cheaper version that doesn’t have my input, but I was asked to anyway

and of course, he’s wondering why the site isn’t up yet, a circumstance about which I know nothing.

it’s all so depressing.

Sven::  that’s a bitch

Sent at 2:32 PM on Monday

Argile: tell me about it.

Sent at 2:33 PM on Monday

Sven::  well, you have my sympathy

Sent at 2:35 PM on Monday

Argile: if only your sympathy came with chips and dip. then I could use it

Sven::  if my sympathy came with chips and dips, i think i’d keep it all for myself

there, my phone is now programmed

Sent at 2:38 PM on Monday

Sven::  and you are the inaugural contact entry

Sent at 2:39 PM on Monday

Argile: oh joy – more pocket dialing?

Sven::  when have i ever pocket-dialed you?

Sent at 2:42 PM on Monday

Argile: i dunno, they all run together

Sven::  the answer is “never”

because the first contact on my old phone was “emergency contact”

which actually had no number associated with it, it’s just something the phone came with

Sent at 2:45 PM on Monday

Argile: alright, I’ll grant you a pass on that one

Sven::  thank you

Sent at 2:47 PM on Monday

Argile: so are you infatuated with it?

Sven::  very

i could get used this QWERTY thing

Argile: also, what is your new #

Sven::  you’ll receive it momentarily

via text

see, you’re also the inaugural text from the new phone

feel honored

Argile: oh, I do.

verizon’s network must be slow :=P

Sven::  didja get it?

i’m in kind of a bad reception area at work, too

Sent at 2:52 PM on Monday

Sven::  in case that text is lost in the ether, my number’s 374-867-5309

Sent at 2:53 PM on Monday

Sven::  did i enter your number right?

Argile: nah, I got it

Sven::  376-242-9000, right?

oh, cool

Argile: I enjoyed the panic though

Sven::  i have no doubt about that

Sent at 2:57 PM on Monday

Argile: other people’s fear and worry is like crack to me

Sven::  that, and cookies

Argile: hah, no, cookies are way above crack

crack doesn’t taste good, and cookies have way more bang for the buck

Sven::  i’m not sure a crack addict would agree with you there

Sent at 3:03 PM on Monday

Argile: Thomas Hardy again – the woman lies about being pregnant so Jude marries her

bwahaha

Sent at 3:08 PM on Monday

Argile: discussing marriage – “there seemed something wrong with a social structure that required the sacrificing of schemes and ambitions, along with the chance for a man to prove himself superior to the lower animals,”

Sent at 3:09 PM on Monday

Sven::  i’m gonna go out on a limb here and bet that this guy wasn’t particularly satisfied with his marriage

Argile: well, his other famous book is Tess of the D’urbervilles, read that?

Sven::  no, but i’ve heard of it

Argile: almost the opposite of this, in that it’s from the woman’s point of view and she’s used by her family and the men around her

impregnated and is never married

Sven::  sounds like a real uplifting story

Argile: “The meat must be well bled, he must die slow”

christ, I could never be a butcher

Sven::  it takes a certain detachment, i’m pretty sure

Argile: “at last, the pig recognized the treachery of those he had known as his best-loved friends”

Sven::  that’s a depressing spin on it

Argile: I’m so utterly depressed right now

Sent at 3:16 PM on Monday

Sven::  i wonder why

Argile: strange how it’s easier to picture fighting in medieval wars, hacking at other people, than it is to hack away at a pig

Sven::  yeah…but i find it easier to generate hatred toward, or at least detachment from, people

pigs have never once done anything wrong to me

Sent at 3:18 PM on Monday

Argile: more marriage advice “Their lives were ruined by basing a permanent contract upon a temporary feeling”

Sven::  hahahah

you could say the same about tattoos

btw, i take it you already gave rob my new number?

Sent at 3:26 PM on Monday

Argile: how’d you guess?

Sven::  by the looney text i just received from him

it was pretty batshit crazy

Sent at 3:28 PM on Monday

Argile: then he followed instructions

Sven::  he’s a good soldier

Sent at 3:30 PM on Monday

Sven::  this is weird, my boss said he’ be “back in a flash”

that was around 12:15

Sent at 3:33 PM on Monday

Argile: flash must mean different things to different people

or he’s been abducted by aliens

Sven::  hadn’t thought about that

he seemed remarkably calm, if that was the case

Sent at 3:37 PM on Monday

Argile: definitely aliens then

mind control

Sent at 3:39 PM on Monday

Sven::  yeah, that’s the only logical explanation

Sent at 3:40 PM on Monday

Argile: http://www.newsweek.com/id/212018

Aliens!?!?!

Sent at 3:43 PM on Monday

Sven::  hell yeah!

Argile: yep, we’re doomed!

we’ll awaken them from their slumber and they’ll flick us away like those guys at the end of MIB

Sven::  i suppose that’s possible

but i’d say it’s a bit promising that we might be able to go find aliens before they’re able to come find us

what if we’re the most technologically advanced life forms?

Argile: great, and whaddya think would happen then?

Sven::  we’d take over the universe

Argile: exactly. we’d need to find civilizations approximately equal to us technologically

or peaceful ones far more advanced

Sven::  that would be preferable

but who’s to say that any other sentient life forms out there aren’t prone to their own form of what we call human nature?

we like to assume aliens are either way ahead of us and more civilized than us, or way ahead of us and want to kill us

what about the 3rd possibility:

they’re way behind us technologically, but still don’t like us?

i suppose starship troopers dove into that a bit

Argile: read “The Forever War” by Joe Haldeman

Sven::  but those were still pretty damn advanced bugs

Argile: that book is more or less a sci-fi allegory of Vietnam

and we more or less begin to slaughter these aliens that try to fight us

good stuff though

look at developing countries, I mean, we basically use them for what we can get

and leave them alone except for charities

that’s probably what would happen with inferior aliens

take what we could from them, and keep eyes on their struggles

Sven::  yeah, probably

Sent at 3:57 PM on Monday

Sven::  well, my boss just called and gave me the goahead to go home whenever i want to

Argile: ah, well, cya later then

Sven::  yep, have a good one