The Real Takeaway

Late night tacos make Jack a dull boy?

2009-10-28T15:42:00.001-07:00

In a moment of weakness last night, I stopped by the great local taco truck and got myself three tacos al pastor.

Seemed like a great idea. I was hungry and you can't beat this place for cheap deliciousness. The tacos were, indeed, incredible -- as always.

Four hours later, though, I had my regrets. Why?

Nightmares. Crazy, terrifying, emotionally draining nightmares. Maybe it's a stretch to believe that delicious tacos eaten at 11:30 pm can cause that kind of psychic anguish.

But if I could convince myself they give me nightmares, maybe I could save all those late-night calories?

Yeah, no...these are great frickin' tacos. Nightmares or no, and I can't be held responsible for myself when I drive by that truck.

An actual letter

2009-10-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

Today I mailed a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, asking her to support a robust public health insurance option.

I did this because I've heard a number of people, including my main man Chris Matthews and former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich, all say that an actual letter is the best way to get your senator's attention.

Email is better than nothing, a call is better than an email, and an old-fashioned snail-mail letter is better than a call.

So I wrote the letter, even though I was kind of wondering if "naked streaking" might not be best of all.

I can't believe it!

2009-10-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

Sen. Harry Reid just shocked the living heck of me. In a good way.

Now if President Obama will finally throw his weight behind it... we could be getting somewhere.

The Day of Rest

2009-10-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

When you're working in a job that's not your typical 9 to 5, and you can conceivably be working at every single hour of every day, you sometimes have to force yourself to chill out for a day.

Relaxing when I could be working never used to be a problem. In fact, I still kick ass at wasting time. But now I just feel extraordinarily guilty about it.

Every once in a while, though, it's important to just do nothing. Let your fields lay fallow and such. Hang out with friends, eat good food, watch college football... when you get back to whatever it is you're working on, you feel a lot better, fresher, and with a new outlook.

Or I'm just feeling guilty about a fun Saturday with friends.

Either way, I'm standing by it.

Infinitum Modafinil

2009-10-21T23:42:00.000-07:00

So, I think I have ADHD. There. I said it. Can I go into a psychiatrist and get some sweet performance enhancing drugs?

This is still America, isn't it?

Wouldn't the Founding Fathers want me to be, like, way smarter than I actually am?

I read this article in the New Yorker a while back, and I have to say, it kinda makes me want to pop some pills. I mean, not Rush Limbaugh-level pill-popping, not Anna Nicole or MJ or anything. Just a couple of little magic caplets, so I could actually sit down and concentrate on something. Anything.

I've got a lot of projects on my plate and it's hard to get any of them done when you can't sit still for three minutes. Or stop checking your email. Or watching Gossip Girl. Or, um... okay, yeah, I've started watching, "Greek" too.

Anyway, I don't think "neuroenhancement" is a bad thing. They're trying to use this drug for guys in the Army. That makes it okay. They're trying to build crazy robotic exoskeletons for the Army too. Which I also want.

If that's wrong, I don't want to be right.

Footage galore!

2009-10-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

I'm enjoying watching a lot of raw documentary footage today...

I feel like a modern-day prospector, sifting through the tons of earth and water and whatever the heck you sift through when you're searching for little nuggets of gold. (Or ginormous nuggets. Those are fine too!)

Today's haul is not bad -- although it somehow contains over ten minutes of one of our main characters getting a massage. Since the movie's going to be 90 minutes, I think it's likely we're going to cut down that ten of the guy getting a rubdown.

But for whatever reason, I kept finding it compelling. What does that say about me?

Got it

2009-10-19T23:23:00.000-07:00

My gambit worked. Apparently head honchos are not as easily put off by jokes about their wives as I might have expected.

Yay! I'm excited.

Bao!

2009-10-19T08:35:00.000-07:00

I wish it were this easy.

Rattlesnake and Rabbit

2009-10-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

This past week, I had another of my periodic internal flirtations with applying to law school. Which means I'm depressed. Or discouraged. Or just being a lame ass.

I'm not sure what it is, but I think when it rained for a day last Wednesday (which was the first time it had rained in six months, probably) I got this surge of S.A.D. that would normally be dispersed over, well, an entire year, but in Los Angeles, it's only cloudy like twice... So I had S.A.D.

And my attempted cure was to hang out with some great old friends and eat exotic sausage.

Which works! Especially if there are liters of beer involved. I'm edging to the day where I'm a little too old for that kind of fun, but I'm not there yet.

Get the Rattlesnake and Rabbit. It will change your life

My kind of green

2009-10-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

Alka-Seltzer

2009-10-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

Because I don't have any Tylenol or Aspirin that has an expiration date later than 2006, I decided to take some Alka-Seltzer. It's got aspirin in it and it specifically says on the box that it's for use with upset stomach caused by over-indulgence with food or drink.

As my good friend said, Check and Check!

And now I'm feeling like at least a quarter of a million bucks. Not a million, but on my way.

Should I iPhone it?

2009-10-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

The big question I've been wrestling with recently is whether to get an iPhone. Why all the handwringing, you may ask? You think: Just get it, you weirdo. You know you want it.

I do want it - kind of badly - but I'm not sure I trust myself. iPhones are super fun -- apps and games and all that stuff. Plus, I could check the Internet everywhere. Me, joining the 21st Century. If I wanted to see what the word of the day is on turdwords.com, I could do it anywhere, at any time.

For me, that's a terrifying prospect. I rely on my local Starbucks to have wireless that costs money/is a pain in the ass to access, so that when I go there, I can actually get work done.

With an iPhone, there will be no such productivity zone. I could procrastinate EVERYWHERE.

Scary. I don't know if I can take the risk.

Here's the pitch!

2009-10-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

I find that when you're trying to convince somebody you're so darn awesome they should hire you, it's wise to try to talk with them in the same way you would talk with your best friends. I didn't make this up -- somebody else far smarter than me did... at least, I hope they're smart because I've been doing this for a while now...

But the idea is that you want to be that best person you can be, the one who's the most charismatic, engaging and full of life -- that's who you presumably are in front of your closest friends. You're comfortable, confident, charming etc. The best you can be.

I think this has usually worked for me. I even made a joke recently about a certain head honcho's wife being from South Jersey (no, not that she has big hair and says the word "water" like "wooder," and is a cheesesteak chomper -- those were private thoughts - ha.)

I just said that as a person from North Jersey, I'd be willing to overlook his wife's place of origin or something like that... and he laughed pretty hard but I could tell in his eyes he was like, "Did that guy just kind of insult my wife?" and I was like, "Am I a total effing moron?!" as I laughed along...

Hmmm...

I guess we'll see how this works out in the next couple of days!

One heck of a movie

2009-10-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

I think this one's going to be huge.

Check it out -- www.theentertainersmovie.com

Hello world!

2009-10-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't posted in a million years and thought, what the heck -- as long as I shoot one off every year or so, I'm on track.

It's raining in Los Angeles, and this makes me happy -- not just for the free car wash. It's time to wash off the dirt and grime and sweat of the past six months (it feels like it's been at least that long) and to start anew. I also need to do my laundry.

Juggling lots of projects -- which at least partly explains my long absence. But I do hope to get back to updating more regularly. Like everyone does. Maybe even some new Vlogging. I don't know. No promises. After all, it's raining. How could I be expected to Vlog when it's raining?

Ha. I'm going to go indulge my urge to have seasonal affective disorder (or whatever it's called.)

My best to all my beloved readers! Hope this finds you well -- and your cars being washed for free by God's tears.

This is how I think it'll go down

2008-10-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

Oh, man. It would be my fault!

2008-10-22T21:36:00.000-07:00

Who's REALLY planning tax cuts

2008-09-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

The Washington Post breaks down the proposed tax policies of Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain.

McCain's trickle down plan gives ENORMOUS tax cuts to the top 0.1% of earners, but barely any relief to anyone else, unlike Obama's plan which does the following:

If you make $226,981 or less, you'll be getting a significant tax cut from Sen. Obama (up to an average of $2789 a year).
If you make between $226,982 and $603,402, you'll be paying slightly less than you are now.

If you make under $111,645, you'll be paying anywhere from $200-$800 less under Sen. Obama's plan than under Sen. McCain's -- for tax cuts that can average up to $1,290 less than you're paying now.

Again, McCain's false claims about Obama raising taxes are simply that: false claims -- not at all borne out by the facts. The "Repeat your lie over and over until people believe it's true" tactic has worked surprisingly well for George W. Bush -- we can only hope McCain's mimicry of that strategy fails.

Lipstick!

2008-09-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody! I'm back. This week I learned that Republican double standards are alive and well. John McCain, who referred to Hillary Clinton's health care plan as "putting lipstick on a pig," is now angrily decrying Barack Obama for calling McCain's own policies "lipstick on a pig."

Since McCain is suddenly so sensitive, I guess we could admit he isn't putting lipstick on a pig -- he's putting lipstick on eight years of failed policies. What do you get when you do that? Eight more years of failed policies -- and a Vice-President who supported the "Bridge to Nowhere" before she was against it.

If we're going to say something controversial, how about the fact that Sarah Palin is like George Bush in high heels? That might be attractive for some folks. Not me. In fact, ewww. I just puked a little in my mouth.

Coming Home

2008-05-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

Had a wild weekend in Peoria, IL learning about my new favorite subject - the World Championship of Old-Time Piano. An amazing experience. Here's a picture I took while I was there.

May 16, 2008

2008-05-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

Hello legions of learning people! Video to follow later - maybe this weekend...

A brief teaser - What happens when you kayak without putting sunscreen on your feet, the fate of the taco truck, and the Moon - it's actually good for something.

May 9, 2008

2008-05-09T15:02:00.000-07:00

This week Michael learns why real-life apocalyptic drama isn't cool, how NASA will totally send you to the moon, and also makes a unique appeal to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

May 2, 2008

2008-05-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

What Michael learned this week: robotic death bugs, how to be the Reverend everybody can agree on, and generic shampoo - you're asking for trouble.

April 25, 2008

2008-04-25T16:37:00.001-07:00

Michael starts off the series with lessons he's learned about elevator buttons, regrowing limbs and what to tell people when you cut your own hair.