after some phone tag and being redirected 3 times while perpetually being left on hold listening to zorba the greek waiting music, verizon finally tells me that i have to wait until wednesday before my dsl can be reinstated because they completely cut my connection. that's almost a whole week. that's bullshit. clerical error? they should have the death sentence for something like that. wednesday?

could you give me a dialup account in the meantime? no, we'd have to send you a cd, and by the time it comes, your dsl will be back up again. can i just download the software online? no, we don't offer it online. a dialup connection comes with my dsl account, right? no, you'd have to pay an additional $20/month for the dialup service on top of the $50/month you're paying now for dsl. is there any other solution? sorry sir, unfortunately you're just going to have to wait until wednesday. i will however sign you up for the promotional package which gives you 3 months of $30/month dsl service before you start paying $50/month again. um, thanks. you're welcome. and you have yourself a nice day!

my father was helping with some renovation stuff today, the first time since he came back from his vacation. things that i didn't know how to do, like add a new piece of door frame or fill a door lock wood gouge. i was busy sanding, just nasty enough that i put on my mask. i don't miss sanding at all. it's probably the nastiest part of the renovation process, because the dust gets everywhere. sanding bits of leftover paint melted by the heat gun is even worse, because that dust is probably filled with lead and toxic. i didn't get all of it, i have to continue sanding tomorrow, then i start priming. i'm not looking forward to it. it's progress, but i'm going to be covering up all that nice wood i uncovered through days of tedious paint stripping. seems like a damn shame to have to do that, but that's the look i'm going for, since i can't have parts of the house with bare wood and parts with covered wood. my grand uncle dropped by unannounced, his first visit. i showed him around, including the basement. he left with my father, leaving me to sand some more and to make myself some breakfast in the form of cereal. sometime in the afternoon shannon came by to pick me up to go see secretary at kendall cinema. in the lobby we saw a provocative s&m display with an address and number to call for your s&m supply needs, a riding crop strategically placed to hide an embarassing area.

i figured being unemployed would mean i would spend the summer watching every single movie that was out in the theatres, because, let's face it, i've got the time. but this summer was the lamest movie summer ever, the last big summer movie i saw was xxx i think, and in some circles that's cause for ridicule, so i almost can't even talk about it. i missed signs, i missed road to perdition, i missed the austin powers sequel (actually, i didn't want to see that one except to see beyonce knowles). i guess the reason is money, movies aren't free, and you can only do so much sneaking around in a theatre to catch a freebie before all that negative karma builds up to something unwholesome.

secretary was an interesting movie. for some reason when it was all over, it reminded me of pretty woman, another film about potential spoiler a good girl (maggie gyllenhaal) who falls in love and live happily ever after with a man (james spader) who treats her like crap. when did james spader become the poster boy for kinky cinematic sex? sex lies and videotape, crash, two days in the valley (that scene with charlize theron!), and now secretary. at times i thought gyllenhaal resembled a less confrontational katie holmes. the movie can be seen for what it is on the surface, a secret s&m relationship between a secretary and her boss, but it can also be seen as a romantic comedy, two unlikely people brought together through chance (her finding a help wanted advertisement in the trash for a secretary position), not realizing they're falling for each other, and then the big climatic ending when true feelings are revealed. but it's certainly not your standard issue meg ryan romantic comedy though (meg would never wear a saddle or masturbate in the woman's bathroom or let her boss spank her for typos). nevertheless, these films are inspirational, especially this one, because whatever your kink is, whatever your fetish, everyone's got a soulmate.

after two hours in the dark watching moving images synchronized with sounds projected onto a large screen, shannon dropped me off in harvard square. i picked up my drug prescription from cvs (i called earlier to place an automated order) and walked back home. i worked on the finishing touches for that supposedly two weeks shockwave project i've been doing when i haven't been home renovating. i'd moved the laptop into the hallway closet and set up a little makeshift office with boxes as a table. while cooking up some stoffer's pizza for dinner (toaster oven, where would i be without you?), i worked for two hours making edits in director. after my dinner i relaxed with a can of pepsi and some sunflower seeds (picked up from cvs). with new versions uploaded, i left, but not before setting up the tripod and getting some step photos of my kitchen recessed lights in action.