I’d known the whole band was gay for years. I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that one of them is homosexual too.

Maybe this would be a good segue into the new rant I’ve been working on for some weeks now, so here is The Big Gay Essay. It sort of sums up a lot of my thoughts on the subject, which have appeared in a hodgepodge of rants and journal entries over the years. I’m working on a similar one about urban issues as well, in case you care.

Happiness is:

• Having a Target gift card and a $5.00 off grand opening coupon on the day that the first Animaniacs DVD is released.
• Finding out that the expensive bathroom repair you were dreading is actually a really easy and cheap fix.
• Hearing “Ah Leah” by Donnie Iris on the surprisingly inoffensive local radio station that you find yourself listening to in the car lately.
• Seeing a classic movie in a 1927 movie palace, even if you are sitting next to a stupid, drunk middle-aged couple who are louder and ruder than most teenagers.
• Having one of those breakthrough moments when you realize that all this PHP stuff is actually starting to make sense.

On the other hand, ambivalence is realizing that, after years of consciously avoiding it, I’m about to become a member of the ranks of Americans with cell phones. It seems a necessary evil, now that I’m in a place where I spend so much more time in my car than on foot. Not, mind you, that I’ll be conversing while driving. Heck, I rarely even converse on my land line; I can’t imagine that a cell phone will suddenly alter my distaste for telephone conversations in general. No, I just like the idea of being able to call AAA when needed.

Don’t worry, though. I still don’t do instant messaging. And while the new house does have a doorbell, you can’t hear it from the den.

Dollar store tikis are a wonderful thing.

My week is all about teaching myself Flash and PHP for a project I’m working on, a couple of years after everyone else in the world did so. That should mean that all my questions have already been answered online by now, right?

Alas, I fear there’s no answer for my other question du jour. My G5 apparently doesn’t like being in an enclosed space like the CPU cabinet in my new desk. Even with the door open — which I had to do because it’s also too big for the CPU cabinet in my new desk — the fan is still running almost constantly once it heats up and I fear for its body temperature when it’s getting a real workout.

That’s what I get for having a really hot computer, huh?

Sorry.

My new 210 square foot office:

The old bed in the new office:

You’ve still only seen a little more than half of it. I turn cartwheels for fun in the other half.

I love this house.