got a message on the answering machine from verizon telling me that my dsl connection is up. i quickly fired up the computer, only to see that it still wasn't working. right away i was on the phone calling their tech support to see what was up. turns out i'm hooked up for dsl, but i don't have the right software to register myself just yet, they have to mail it to me, and that could take until tuesday or wednesday, the day when they originally told me i'd get connection again. my old dsl connection was a static ip number because i was an early adopter of dsl in my town. now that they've reconnected me, they've downgraded me to a dynamic number ("if you want static that's going to be another $15 per month," verizon tells me). i really don't care as long as i can get my net access, but now i have to wait for the software to arrive.

i primed the foyer and coat closet, including the other side of the door and all around its edges. priming takes just as long as regular painting, i thought that wouldn't be the case. but if you want to do anything with care, it takes time. what took so long were the doors, with all those recessed rectangular panels. it took a long time to get paint into every nook and cranny. the baseboards and the door frames were actually easy to paint. i had to be careful that i didn't get any white primer on the ceiling or the walls, working inside of the blue taped borders. occasionally i'd drip paint from the brush onto the walls, whereby i'd immediately jump off of the ladder to get a wet paper towel to clean it off before it dries. i really hope the white closet door will offset some of that intensity of the orange foyer. i took off the manual doorbell in order to paint the back of the front door. i was surprised to find inside a series of intricate gears, like the inside of an analog watch. yes, i got some paint on my pants, on my t-shirt, all over my hands, and on the bottom of my feet. tomorrow, priming the living room. the new thing to paint are the windows, we will see.

i went and caught the 4pm showing of red dragon at the fresh pond cinema with alex wong. trying to take a shortcut from my place in cambridge, i took a wrong turn and got stuck in some traffic trying to cross the start of route 2. i made it to the theatre at the appointed time 10 minutes late. before the movie started i saw the new twin towers trailer (goosebumps!) and a james bond trailer.

i read red dragon back in the early 90's, my first tom harris book. this is one of those rare times when i actually read a book first before it was turned into a movie (barring any sort of classic works you'd read in english classes). so when i saw red dragon, i could vaguely recall the keypoints in the plot, but not enough to be not surprised at the twists and turns in the story. the movie's got anthony hopkins, edward norton, and ralph fiennes, all solid actors, one of those multistarred movie where the celebrities don't cancel each other out but actually work within the confines of the film. mary-louise parker plays the wife, which i think is a step down for her, because didn't she use to be really hot in hollywood? now relegated to very minor supporting roles. and just like one hour photo, this movie exposes the danger of having strangers develop your family photos, in this case, family videos. go digital, do it all in home! overall, an enjoyable psychological thriller, worth seeing if you're a fan of this genre.

i'm growing a beard again, but unlike the last time, this is an appropriately timed unemployed beard. people will see me and think, "oh my god he's in between jobs!" and they'd be right. i want to make it easier for people to realize my economic status. don't second guess, look at my face, look at my beard, what does it say to you? i'll probably shave it for my first job interview though, whenever that is. i gotta get me some of that job search action.