9.25.02

Hello dear reader(s)! It is I, your anonymous intergalactic simian host. And, as you might be able to tell, I’m in a pretty good mood. Why is that? One reason is because Monte kicks ass.

As you might recall, my landlord is also one of my best friends, Monte, and because of his house payment schedule, my paycheck this Friday will, essentially, be a freebie. So what am I doing with this minor amount of moolah? Well, at first I thought about paying a big ol’ chunk on a credit card. Seems like a good idea, right? But that was before I realized I’m basically wasting this opportunity to help myself.

See, when I use a credit card nowadays, it’s because I’m flat broke and need to buy gas or groceries – a necessity. I rarely ever use cards to buy anything I don’t need to survive in this world (DVDs, books) although “rarely” doesn’t mean “never”, I must admit.

Here’s what I’m thinking – if I’m going to be so poor that I use a credit card to buy gas and then pay XX% on that gas, obviously that’s a waste of money in the long run. However, if I could keep a little cache of cash in my local bank account (the one that currently houses $4.54), then I could use that money for when the paycheck that gets direct deposited into my primary account is running low. This way I’m not paying 19% on gas or Special K with Red Berries. Essentially, it’s a nest egg, and if I’m dipping into that for gas and groceries, that will leave more money from my paycheck to go towards credit card payments.

So while I’m not making an immediate impact on my credit card debt, I’m also not increasing that debt with stuff that is a total waste of important credit. Does any of this make any sense to you? Because for some odd reason it makes perfect sense to me. Anyway, that’s why I’m in kind of a good mood.

Another reason is, last night I got to meet one of my favorite actors, Bruce Campbell. Bruce is the star of such cult films as Evil Dead, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness and was the star of the short-lived TV series, Brisco County Jr. He’s also in a lot of films such as The Hudsucker Proxy, Spider-Man, Congo (which he’s embarrassed to admit), and the recent Serving Sara. He was also a big part of the Xena TV series, which I was never a big fan of, personally.

I’m not a rabid fanboy when it comes to Bruce. He’s rather hit-or-miss with me and just because he’s in a film or show doesn’t mean I’m necessarily going to see it (i.e. Serving Sara). But I’m a big enough fan that with Bruce in the STL area to promote his autobiography/glimpse into the world of filmmaking called “If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor” it was worth it to me to go see him. (Side note: Bruce is well known for his face, which has a very comic-book-like cut to it, including a pretty prominent chin, thus the title of the book)

He did an hour-long question and answer session, which was a blast, and then signed items for the fans. I got his signature inside my book, on a DVD, which is also in the shape of a book (the Necronomicon Ex Mortis – see the Evil Dead Trilogy), and I even got my picture taken with the man himself. So all in all it was a cool experience. See the pictures HERE if you’re interested.

Other than that, I’ve been kind of taking it easy this last week. I did some writing over the weekend, as well as hung out with the STLMustang guys on Saturday night for a cookout. As of Sunday I was feeling a little burned out on writing, so I’ve been putting that aside this week to give it a little distance. I fully intend to spend most of Saturday, however, doing nothing but working on one of the two stories I’m well into; I just needed a little breather to get the fires burning again. Ya know?

Started doing some GIS stuff here at work Tuesday. I was a little restless at first because it’s been five months since I’ve really done much with it, sadly. Since my big boss took me off doing projects a while back, it sort of took the wind out of my sails and I haven’t been working with it. So, needless to say, that first day back was a bit disorienting. However, I went into work tonight and got kind of re-situated and I’m feeling much better about the whole thing. Tomorrow should be a different experience. I’ll probably come in over the weekend to work on some more stuff, so that’ll help, too.

I’m also in a good mood because, as of today, I can say I have every issue of the G.I. Joe comic book series that was started back in 1982 and ran until 1994. I know, I know, I’m a total nerd, but this has been an off-and-on search since 1987.

See, back then my Mom was always my biggest supporter of my comic book collection. She’d take me to Champaign to a comic shop called “Rocketship Ranch” that used to be above Record Service (Figaro’s is there last time I checked) and buy me back issues of G.I. Joe if I got an A on a test or if I had some allowance burning a hole in my pocket. Or there were the trips to Rantoul and the infamous “Funnybook Factory” that had a great selection as well. Mom even had my “Want List” on hand and sent it to my aunt in California so she could check some of the bigger comic shops out there. I’m telling ya – my Mom kicked ass.

Then three years ago when I dug out my comics, I kinda realized how much she supported me. So, in a way, I wanted to complete it to sort of finish what she helped me start. It’s not like they’re worth millions or probably ever will be, but that wasn’t the point to begin with. Either way, I’m happy to say the search is over. Now I can really start working on my Daily Cup O’ Joe website, too!

This weekend looks to be fun. Because Monte is such a damn cool guy, I’m going to have a little money to play with and I really need to have a good time. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to go out and not think, “Okay, I can’t spend any more than $30 tonight or else I can’t pay my Chase card bill”. Not that I’m going to go apeshit by any means. JK and I (and whoever else wants to come along) are hitting the town Friday night and I’m going to try to take it easy on the cash without worrying about it too much. No worrying, but at the same time no stupidity either. Control is the key. So…yeah, wish me luck on that.

Well, I think I’m going to head out for now. Sorry I didn’t have some big political discussion for you this time either, but I had a pretty eventful week; one of those weeks that can remind you how every once in a while, life can deal you a good hand. I just hope it will keep giving me the good cards.

Space Monkey X