Union Station, Washington D.C.

Union Station, Washington D.C., originally uploaded by RumAli.

Kitchen, Dirt Palace

Kitchen, Dirt Palace, originally uploaded by RumAli.

The Dirt Palace is a converted public library in Providence, Rhode Island.

View from the Dirt Palace

View from the Dirt Palace, originally uploaded by RumAli.

The Dirt Palace is in Providence, Rhode Island.

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia, originally uploaded by RumAli.

Dreamland Faces

Dreamland Faces, originally uploaded by RumAli.

Dreamland Faces @ Darling Hall (Milwaukee, WI) (7/11/04)

http://www.popwars.com/movies/dreamlandfaces.html

Class Notes

Class Notes, originally uploaded by RumAli.

I'm teaching a class called Digital Arts Workshop: Sequential Imaging. We're critiquing Scott McCloud's seminal work "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art."

Class Notes

Class Notes, originally uploaded by RumAli.

I'm teaching a class called Digital Arts Workshop: Sequential Imaging. We're critiquing Scott McCloud's seminal work "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art."

Bush Strikes a Pose

Bush Strikes a Pose, originally uploaded by RumAli.

This was taken by K Anderson at the Corn Club, an attic up the street. We played there on June 12, 2004.

Organist Ron Reseigh Plays the Mighty Wurlitzer

Organist Ron Reseigh Plays the Mighty Wurlitzer, originally uploaded by RumAli.

This was taken in an eatery called Organ Piper Pizza, which houses an incredible organ, a Mighty Wurlitzer. I went there with my roommate, my landlord, my bandmate and his girlfriend, and my landlord's most recent house-sitter. A fun gathering.

Ron Reseigh, the organist playing that evening, played two of my requests: Joplin's "The Easy Winners" and James' "Angela (Them From Taxi)". The latter was a weird juxtaposition: a lazy song underpining the chaos of several birthday parties, kids and waitstaff abuzz.

The pizza itself was surprisingly good, especially because I wasn't expecting much. I recommend the cheese pizza over the veggie pizza.

In-Flight Movie

In-Flight Movie, originally uploaded by RumAli.

Videogaming vs. Mood (1999-2005)

Videogaming vs. Mood (1999-2005), originally uploaded by RumAli.

I'm not that surprised by the slight (is it more than slight?) negative correlation between my time spent videogaming and my mood.

Videogames - for the most part - are a solitary endeavor. And sure they are fun and awesome but I often cite videogaming as a way to escape the pressures of modern living, ironic in that videogaming is a part of modern living. Such pressures may weigh more in my assessment of my mood (or rate) of that day.

Glen Gould's Childhood Home

Glen Gould's Childhood Home, originally uploaded by RumAli.

Time Spent Videogaming

Time Spent Videogaming, originally uploaded by RumAli.

This chart adds and then averages the time spent videogaming per month for the years 1998-2004 and then compares that to the time spent videogaming per month for the year 2005.

On February 22, 2005 I received my pre-ordered copy of Gran Turismo 4. The following month I netted over 4000 minutes videogaming, which comes second only to July 2001, when I was playing FInal Fantasy VIII and Gran Turismo 3.

My First Playing of QI

My First Playing of QI, originally uploaded by RumAli.

QI, along with a bunch of other words including OI, is going to be allowable in Scrabble tournament play come March 2006. Big changes that allowed me to play off the last U (for OPUS) because I knew that I could play QI if I got the Q. So I did, making SEGNI/QI and losing the game because EZ plays JUGS off the TWS. (FE also got played for the first time.)

SCALARIS* is phoney.

Bra With Ties

MG liked this unintentional juxtaposition.

Pizza vs. Mood (2005)

Pizza vs. Mood (2005), originally uploaded by RumAli.

At the end of each day, I try to gauge the overall "mood" of the day - a sort of "rating" the day. A great day gets a "5", and a terribly bad day gets a "1". Whole numbers only to make it easy.

Anyway, the corelational coefficient for Slices of Pizza consumed and my mood for the year 2005 is a surprisingly positive one: .4172.

More analysis is needed but it's a good thing my dairy-fast is officially over come tomorrow.

Classic Arcade

Classic Arcade, originally uploaded by RumAli.

Waiting For Breakfast

Waiting For Breakfast, originally uploaded by RumAli.

I remember being struck at the breakfast table manners of my bandmates in the Horn Band. Well, at least on this occasion, everyone had his or her gaze on newspaper.

Bacon and Egg Pizza

286-8685_IMG, originally uploaded by RumAli.

This is a "Bacon and Egg" pizza made at a place in south Milwaukee, WI called Primavera. Yes, I ate it. It's one of the 40 meals I had in the year 2005 where I ate meat.

Pizza and Soda Consumption (2005)

Pizza and Soda Consumption (2005), originally uploaded by RumAli.

Correlation coefficient: +.38.

Pizza Slices Consumed per Month (2004-05)

Pizza Slices Consumed per Month (2004-05), originally uploaded by RumAli.

I consumed 149 slices of pizza in 2004. The next year that amount was reduced to 88.5 slices. I wasn't purposely getting rid of pizza from my diet; however, I was trying to lower my "dining out" expenses, which I did.

And now I've drastically reduced the intake of diary in my diet, which proportionally reduces the kinds of pizza I can eat. But this is a temporary thing, I keep telling myself.

Pizza Slices Consumed per Day

Pizza Slices Consumed per Day, originally uploaded by RumAli.

I consumed 88.5 slices of pizza in the year 2004. This was the first year since deep in my childhood that none of those slices were from Prince Of Pizza in Jersey City, NJ. Most of those slices, over a third!, were from Pizza Shuttle here in Milwaukee, WI.

Mila

Mila, originally uploaded by RumAli.

At Newark International Airport

At Newark International Airport, originally uploaded by RumAli.

June 20, 2004

241_4142, originally uploaded by RumAli.

Here's the host of my daily-watched or listened to show, Democracy Now, with the band, The Paragraphs. I met her in Madison, WI during her book tour. She had just published a book, Exception to the Rulers, which she co-authored with her brother.

The John Ashcroft Fan Club

The John Ashcroft Fan Club @ Corral Room (Madison, WI), originally uploaded by RumAli.

The John Ashcroft Fan Club performed at the Corral Room in the Tornado Club in Madison, WI on April 30, 2004.

Challenge

Another part of the 21-day challenge - I'm on it unofficially, largely as a show of solidarity - is to to affect a change of lifestyle. This is kind of broad. Mary's trying to get 6 hours of sleep per night. I'm reading 2 pages of the new Scrabble Dictionary (4th edition).

ABAYA, anyone?

Cut Flowers with Soy Milk

Cut Flowers with Soy Milk, originally uploaded by RumAli.

January weighed in at almost 3.5, easily making it (ala Youngna via unknown) the Best! January! Ever!

It's also the best month in over two years. January '06 was a suitable follow-up to a 3.419 December '05, setting me up for busting the curse of February, traditionally the worst month of the year for me.