incidentally, that post about the "other" "Laura Lynn" was totally not serious. i mean, it was all true, but the stalker part. i'm seriously not a stalker. i have better things to do w/ my time. (well, other people who are higher on my list of stalkees, at any rate.) but i did think it an odd coincidence.

ok, i'm so sick of not being able to find the man pages i need. i used to have a bookmark at school to a really nicely laid-out web site with man pages. but i don't feel like wasting a lot of time trying to find it right now. so for the time being, i'm putting up this link:http://www.rt.com/man/ to a site that seems to have a pretty complete listing of UNIX man pages, although the layout leaves something to be desired. i'll try to include a real blog entry later w/ some additional (better) links.

ok, so THIS is freaky. some time ago, it was brought to my attention that there's another "Laura Lynn" using blogger (http://lauralynn.blogspot.com. I asserted at the time that if she started signing her blog entries "~L" (which everyone who's ever received any email or handwritten note from me knows is MY trademark), then i would have to take action to protect my on-line identity from this OTHER (all but counterfeit) Laura Lynn. well, i thought i'd check on her (see what's going on and what-not in her peachy life) AND CAN YOU BELIEVE I THINK SHE'S ALSO IN AUSTIN, TX!!!

you realize what this means, right?

heh heh heh... this is exactly how stalkers come into the world. *rubs hands together eagerly*. it MAY just be that this town is big enough for both of us. MAYBE. after all, she is several years younger than i am, so our spheres of influence aren't likely to overlap. NEVERTHELESS i think some type of meeting may have to occur, by "happenstance" as it were. i'm betting on the fact that she hasn't noticed my blog. really, there's no reason for her to know about it. i don't want her to know about me, at least not yet. i think i'll just sort of watch her cautiously, from a distance.

seriously i mean what are the odds? too many strange coincidences have been occurring lately. *shakes head*

oh yeah, incidentally today was my first day of work at IBM. since this is a weblog (technically), here's a link which anyone reading this (and i seriously doubt anyone IS reading this) will likely find completely useless.

Quote from John Loiacono, the vice president of Sun's Operating Platforms group, "I never want to be lumped into any categories with Microsoft other than profitability." (originating article)

that just killed me.

incidentally, i'm in Austin, TX at the moment. i was kind of out of touch for several days, but they finally hooked up my cable internet access 2 days ago. i know i promised to tell about the Field Day concert, but i don't feel like writing a lot at the moment so i'll just give a brief synopsis.

Chucke and I got to the concert, which was relocated from somewhere far far away in Long Island to Giants Stadium in Jersey, which is only like 20 minutes or somethign from his house. we got there around 1 or somethign, in time to hear the end of Liz Phair and all of Beth Orton. which was cool. except it was pretty much raining from the start and kind of cold. i was wearing jeans and a tank top w/ a light jacket. unfortunately, the rain seeped right through my jacket and i was soaked almost instantly. also i was freezing once i got wet. we went outside to the 2nd stage because we wanted to hear Thursday. but by the time they finally started playing (incidentally, i don't ever recall going to a concert where the bands took more time to set up between acts. seriously.) i was so cold i knew i had to get a dry shirt on or something. so we went and i got another t-shirt (oh yeah, i had already got one concert t-shirt and put it on over my tank top so i'd be warmer. but once it got wet, it ceased to help). and chucke got us both ponchos.

so i took off my wet shirts and put on the new, dry shirt under the poncho. i felt a TON better after i got on the dry shirt, even though my jeans were soaked clear through. we stood under the shelter of some stairs for a bit, then we decided to go back into the stadium and go sit in the seats, under the overhang to try to dry off a bit. we had all-area passes so we weren't supposed to be in the seats, but luckily they weren't being too watchful. so we had some warm cookies or something and sat in the seats and listened to Underworld and Blur. i was impressed by the hardcore fans who were dancing the entire time Underworld was performing. also, we witnessed this crazy girl in an orange shirt who was literally going crazy during Blur's performance. this girl was INTENSE. i wonder if she was on speed or something. i mean seriously. she was out of control. we were watching from far, far away on the mezzanine level. the sound was still pretty good up there though. we hung our wet shirts on the seats in front of us but they didn't get dry. fortunately, my pants did get a little bit more dry.

throughout the entire show, i did not drink anything at all. i didn't want to have to go to the bathroom when Radiohead finally went on. so i literally didn't drink anything. not even water. for like 12 hours. i guess i must have been absorbing water through my skin though because i didn't feel dehydrated.

we finally made our way down to the floor toward the end of Blur. we wanted to get as close as possible so we could stay there until the end. once we got down there (incidentally it was still raining, usually POURING) we were dismayed to learn that Beck wouldn't be playing, supposedly due to an injury that put him in the hospital. like, a slip & fall injury or something. a lot of fans were dubious and vocalized their opinion that after what we'd been through (w/ the rain) and what we'd paid (too much) Beck should come on stage in a wheelchair if necessary. we were kind of doubtful whether this supposed injury had actually occurred or if Beck just was smart enough not to want to be at an outdoor concert in the pouring rain. *shrugs*

At any rate, after MUCH delay the Beastie Boys finally took the stage. now, i'll admit i'm not a big fan. nevertheless, i do enjoy a number of their songs, in particular such classics as "Sabotage" and "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn." they didn't play those 2, or hardly any of their other older hits. not even the breakout "Fight for your Right" (or whatever its actual title is). they mostly played new stuff and i was not impressed. my biggest impression was that they're getting old and their show really lacked energy. plus for the first half of their set the mics needed to be turned up. not particularly encouraging. anyways that's my opinion on it.

so then we were waiting around FOREVER for Radiohead to finally play. it was getting dark by this time. oddly enough, i ran into this guy who i met last fall at a Cake concert. i mean seriously, what are the odds? i can see us both being at that concert, even though it was on the other side of the country, but what are the odds of us actually seeing each other? and we both recognized each other and remembered stuff, like that we were both into computer engineering and what-not. so that was kinda wild. there were easily a coupla thousand people on the floor of the stadium by this time, not to mention the stands were filling up. it was a sizable crowd, and i'd estimate the amount if i were any good at estimating numbers. (aside: well, i DID tie to win the "baptismal pool" this summer at the convention at Pontiac- i guessed 230 & there turned out to be 231 baptised.) i think Chucke said he thought there were 10,000 people just on the floor.

to keep us from getting upset, the cameraman was panning the crowd and people were making faces at the camera and what-not. of course, he started to get girls to flash their boobs. then they switched over to showing some words and stuff on the big video screens. around 10 minutes later i was wondering if they were finally going to go on, because the stage was dark but i could see some people were moving around there. chucke boosted me up onto his shoulders so i could get a better look. i was just sort of looking up there, trying to see what was going on when suddenly the people nearby started saying "hey, look- you're up there!" i was like "wha-.?" and then i looked at the screens and saw i was up there. of course, once i looked, everybody started screaming. i started shaking my head, mouthing "NO WAY" and so they started screaming louder. i was thinking if i didn't do anything the cameraman would just move on, but he didn't. i was so embarrassed but Chucke let me down pretty quickly. i mean seriously there was no way i was gonna flash everybody. geez come on. anyways, it was embarrassing. and you know i dont' typically get embarrassed that easily. but when i do, i always make sure to tell the story to everybody. kind of backwards, i'd imagine.

anyways, FINALLY Radiohead went on, and it actually stopped raining around when they started. also, it was warming up becuase the press of people was so great. several times, the crowd rushed forward and everybody was swept along in the crush of bodies. this really short girl was right in front of me and i and a couple other people practically had our arms around her because we didn't want her to get flattened, being so small as she was. there is no way anybody w/ any kind of social phobia would have been able to handle that situation. we were packed in there like sardines. it was mad.

they opened w/ one of their new songs- i'm pretty sure it was "There, there." man, they sounded SO GOOD. they played almost entirely stuff taht i liked, including almost every song off the new album (which somehow, a ton of people there already had got their hands on, but which was entirely new to me), probably every song off Kid A, and a lot of stuff off Ok Computer. they also played a few B-sides like that one song "Talk Show Host" off the Romeo & Juliet soundtrack. i was really happy that they even played one or 2 off the Bends (for instance they played "You Do It To Yourself"). another cool thing was that the lights and stuff that had going on actually added to the overall effect. it seems like sometimes the stuff people do at concerts can actually detract from the music, or at least be a distraction. but their lights & special effects really added to the music. they put on a great show, without a doubt. i wish we could have got closer, but as it was, that entire field was crammed w/ people, so we actually were probably closer to the stage than at least 80% of the people there. we also were fairly positioned toward the middle, where the stereo sound is best. Radiohead gave us a good hour and a half or more of music- they came back for a half-hour long encore set which i think was well-deserved after the way we all put up w/ the rain for them.

SO... the verdict is, it WAS worth it. even though my jeans still hadn't dried by the next morning and i had to take a bath when we got home to warm up. but i don't think i would have stuck out that concert for any other band but Radiohead.

after that, i drove to Canada and hung out w/ my Canuck friends for a few days. it was really fun, but i can't think of any big stories to tell from that experience, other than the fact that i was detained by Customs officials on the way into Canada at Niagara Falls. because i look like SUCH a terrorist, ya know? (NOTE TO THE DOD BOT READING THIS: I'M JUST JOKING, OK? No need to throw out any red flags). despite this delay, having to turn around 2wice because i misinterpreted my brother's vague directions, and getting slowed down by torrential rains, i still made it to Kasey's house in much less time than everyone said it would take. and i'm infamous for my frequent bathroom stops. *shrugs* go figure.

COMING NEXT: airport irony & my new apartment

aside: you know, that "brief synopsis" didn't turn out so brief, did it? ...ah, central time...

weary, so weary. why do i bother?