Resting at a stoplight yesterday, I watched the occupants of the car behind me in my rear-view mirror. They sit perfectly still, as all car occupants do.

Then, the grandmotherly woman in the passenger seat points at my car (license plate?) and says a few things. The driver, a woman around my age, laughs and says something back.

The two are silent again, sitting perfectly still, waiting for my discussion-provoking car to move.

Nov 26 2002 10 comments

The WalMart Receipt Site has died.

The account has been pulled, for what reason I do not know. Prohosting has told me in the past, "we don't track cancelled accounts," so I doubt I'll ever find a reason.

Part of me is very sad. The site is lost, gone forever; yes, I keep backups, but the URL was the thing, and the constant comments kept things going. I felt almost as bad when the original incarnation of I Am was deleted, but the Receipt Site got me in magazines and newspapers, on television and radio. It was a life all it's own, and it is lost forever.

Another part of me wants to just let it go, because the site has been slowly declining over the past year. Traffic has been down, and there have only been a few new linking sites. The Site had passed its prime, and there wasn't a lot of reason to keep it updated, other than to appease the Regulars.

That's a little harsh, though: the Regulars were the core of what the Receipt Site is about. Unfortunately, they've been the most influential force in the past 6 months, making up 90% of the new comments. That camaraderie is lost, and that saddens me the most.

Nov 25 2002 0 comments

Ten days -- TEN DAYS since my last update? What gives?! Well, It's been a crazy couple of months. This weekend, Des and I straightened up our apartment by eliminating a bunch of furniture. Looking at the pile of chairs, stools, and carts in the garage, I wonder: how the hell did all that fit in my apartment in the first place? Spring cleaning hit me a few months late, I suppose. Both in the apartment and in real-life, I'm cleaning up loose ends as best I can.

Now, the rush to Christmas Vacation begins this weekend...sweeping out the dust-bunnies has come not too soon!

Nov 16 2002 0 comments

Derek Is Reading:

Generation X by Douglas Coupland

First I wonder what Coupland would think of this book being scarred with the generic $1.00 pricetag of a charity thriftshop, but then I think, "what the fuck do I care?"

Nov 14 2002 0 comments

Daily Condition:

in cd player: Eminem, the marshall mathers lp

my condition: looking forward to the opportunity to go out with some friends tomorrow night

Nov 13 2002 1 comment

I've mentioned I attend evening classes as a college extension location here in Fargo. The basement classroom area has a small break room, not much larger than a storage closet. On one side are a few vending machines, a sink and coffee maker to the other side, and there's a few small, round cafe tables spread about.

Tonight, one of the tables had a small box set on it. The box was wrapped in paper, multicolored question marks printed all over it. The top had a large slot, and on the table beside it was a paper tablet and a pencil.

There's no sign, no note, nothing to describe the box's purpose.

Inside the box was a single piece of paper.

I turned the box over, squeezing my fingers through the slot to fish out the single folded note. I figure, maybe you're supposed to drop your name in, or possibly it's a suggestion box. The slip will give me a clue as to it's reason for being.

I clamp the paper between my fingers, and squeeze it out.

There's one sentence written on the paper, in pencil.

"WHAT IS THIS BOX FOR?"

Nov 12 2002 0 comments

In the "PBS" column, on Newstoday.com, around a third of the way down:

"books of dog
up until five minutes ago i thought the guy who put this site together was a complete lunatic. now i think hes a genius - nice stuff here."

You know, I think that statement, boiled down to it's base components, is the core of my being. "I used to think he was a lunatic, but now I realize he's a GENIUS!" I've heard the same sentiment repeated innumerable times over the past few years....

Nov 8 2002 0 comments

Just returned from parent-teacher's conference regarding Destiny's progress in the 1st Grade.

All is going well -- her language skills exceed her mathematical skills, but that's not to say she's doing a poor job at anything. The one point the teacher made is that Destiny needs to pay attention more. Des is more apt to socialize than listen to the teacher, which is the likely cause of her poor performance in math.

The best quote from the teacher: She's just so full of life and excitement...if only I could have a LITTLE bit of that!"

Nov 6 2002 0 comments

The Books of Dog is spreading:

First, from the ever-friendly Binary By Accident
Next, it spawned to Dog News
Today, it's newly linked by Lexi - The Dog

Future linkers: The Books now have their own Domain Name:

http://www.books-of-dog.com

Watch for domain name to arrive for Voices From The Thriftshop and I Am...

Nov 3 2002 0 comments

Derek Is Reading:

Nov 3 2002 0 comments

A new Derek Project: The Books of Dog. Go have a look.

Nov 2 2002 5 comments

Clear Channel thinks they're funny -- Today I'm listening to the newest station in Fargo-Moorhead, Quick 104.7. Read the second story here:

"Clear Channel's new KDAM/104.7 (Hope-Fargo) is on the air stunting as "Quick 104.7," playing hooks from songs of all categories. "10 songs an hour? We play 10 songs in a minute! Quick 104.7 FM!" (10/31/02)"

There's just barely enough of each song played to maybe recognize it, taken from a wide variety of musical genres. The other Clear Channel stations are running ads for 104.7, billing "1000 songs and hour!" I suppose it's better than when one of the other ClearChannel stations was "All 'Louie Louie,' All The Time" earlier this summer.