Monday, December 15, 2003 - Busy, busy, busy. Other duties have kept me from pen and paper, as well as the word processor of late. And when precious little time has afforded me a go at the keyboard, I've been busy with tasks other than writing or updating the website. To wit:
I've secured cable Internet access with our local provider here in Winsted. Needless to say, with this new high speed connection, there has been more time cruising the 'net than doing productive things with the computer. By the way, my new e-mail address is: alienjeff AT charter DOT net
After much urging from a friend (thanks Ed!), Mozilla v1.5 now provides both my Internet browser and mailer client software. Though my favorite mailer was an old, old version of Netscape, they've since been bought out by AOL, and anything AOL gets their hands on turns cluttered fast, so it has been a while since I've touched anything with the Netscape name on it.
Checking a brief history of Mozilla revealed to me that that old version of Netscape I loved so much was based on Mozilla!, so I've fallen in love with my new e-mail client software. There are some learning curve issues to deal with, and they take time.
Stay tuned. Saddam got dragged out of an hole in the ground this past weekend and new keeps happening. And when news happens, opinions are born. I've have something fresh up on this site before you know it. Thanks for checking in!
Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - There's yet another new feature to the website. It's called: Overheard, overseen or otherwise witnessed. For the time being it's going to be a single web page, with the most recent additions at the top of the page (in thanks to and consideration of frequent visitors). Check it out. I think you'll like it.
Stay tuned to What's New, as there's a new Open Letter in the works. This yet to be released open letter will be addressed to one of Hartford's more popular radio stations. No prisoners will be taken ...
Snow has been forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Sigh. It actually snowed this past Sunday and it looked serious for a while: big, thick and heavy flakes that fell for nearly an hour. Fortunately, rain took over and there were no remnants of snow to remind us that winter is just around the corner. I don't know about you, but it's too early for snow in my world.
Sunday, October 12, 2003 - Baseball fever is high, yet it was the fans on both sides of the Boston-New York feud that were subjected to infantile behavior by members of both teams last night. October Madness takes on a new meaning, and a new low. Check out my comments in On Losing Faith.
Wednesday, October 1, 2003 - Enough is quite enough! Check out the new area called Open Letters. There is an explanation of the area as well as the first of a series of open letters for your consideration. Enjoy!
As I sit down to type this announcement, it's painfully obvious that it has been nearly four months since this file was last updated, and hence that same amount of time since the web site has been added to. I'm hesitant to blame this on the ever-convenient excuse of writer's block. That would not be entirely accurate. Let me try to explain.
Remember when playing a record and the needle would continuously “skip” in a groove that had an imperfection? That is exactly where I *have been. But here's fair warning: I'm back. Check out What's New frequently - if you dare. And thanks for your patience!
Wednesday, June 4, 2003 - Our individual journeys through life frequently bring us to new territories, yet sometimes paths circle back to familiar ground. Both can be challenging, though for different reasons. Such is life.
This update to “What's New!” finds me back in my old digs in Winsted, Connecticut, far from the hustle and bustle of Hartford where I had moved to nearly a year ago. This return to the northwest hills was not without more than a fair amount of pain, contemplation and compromise, but was necessary, nevertheless. I won't burden you with the details.
Sunday, April 13, 2003 - Two weeks since the last update to What's New? Sheesh! Where the hell does the time go? “Radio Matters” and “Sites I like – you might, too!” remain in an ugly state of construction, so your patience is appreciated. It will be worth the wait, though.
Since the March 30 update, there have been two new Trifocal Rearview Mirror essays worthy of your perusal.
Also new to the menu is an old relic of an essay that was from my days as a program host on WAPJ 88.5-FM in Torrington, Connecticut. Hiroshima is more than the name of a city in Japan.
And I've been chipping away at fixing broken links and editing pages from the early days of this website. Again, your patience and broken link reports are most appreciated. A special thanks goes out to Bill and Craig. Hoo-aah!
Sunday, March 30, 2003 - Another busy week for The Alien. More changes to the main website pages, hopefully gaining your approval. Here's the rundown:
And a heads up: Tuesday rapidly approaches, and that means that a brand new edition of Trifocal Rearview Mirror will be posted. Deadline hour is 5 P.M. eastern time, so check it out!
Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - The war finally started. Check out the March 25, 2003, edition of Trifocal Rearview Mirror for my take on three of last week's news stories.
I've received a report of some broken links on the website (thanks Dusty!). Sorry about that! After spending some time tonight working bugs out, I think I caught most of the broken links, with the exception of any links on the original website pages (ones with a menu table on the left hand side of the screen). Reports of broken links would be appreciated. E-mail me and get my undying gratitude! Addy: alienjeff AT charter DOT net
Sunday, March 16, 2003 - The past two weeks have been both a fury and flurry of activity, both on this website as well as other work related tasks. Whew! Thank goodness for caffeine, nicotine, adrenaline, insomnia and manic episodic adventures! Here's a brief rundown of website related changes:
These changes should make navigation easier. As with text content, I heartily welcome any and all feedback you may have regarding these changes. Comments, suggestions, criticism or kudos are fine by me. I'm relatively thick skinned ...
What do you think? E-mail: alienjeff AT charter DOT net
Sunday, March 2, 2003 - It's MARCH? Jesus H. tap dancing Christ - where did January and February go? Two new essays will find their way to the menu bar today once I'm finished wrestling with an HTML editor I'm test driving. They are:
TRIFOCAL REARVIEW MIRROR, three news stories with an alien take on them; and Cell Phone Nation, a critique on those dastardly little personal communications devices. Check 'em out!
Tuesday, February 25, 2003 - Busy, busy, busy! But WAIT! There's a new essay titled TRIFOCAL REARVIEW MIRROR. Check the menu selection on the left side of the home page and click on the title. It's worth it, trust me (heheh).
Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - Too busy to upload anything to the site. Little news tidbits from the Orifice of Homeboy Security lead me to believe that the 'gumment has cards it's not showing. Osama bin Laden has come out of hiding via a audio recording. Call me paranoid, but I can't help but wonder if our government made this audio tape in a desperate move to get the war with Iraq going.
Friday, February 7, 2003 - Terror Alert raised the day after the airing of the Michael Jackson special on ABC: is there a connection? Two new works in progress, Terrified of Terror and Under the Microscope don't answer that question, but are worth reading.
Wednesday, February 5, 2003 - Absolute evidence of the Dumbing of America. Details are in this rant.
Saturday, February 1, 2003 - STS-107 LANDS PREMATURELY OVER TEXAS, LOUISIANA AND ALABAMA details the news you won't get from mainstream media.
Thursday, January 30, 2003 - added proposed intro paragraphs to The Coffee Chronicles. Check out this addition to this most recent work-in-progress!
Tuesday, January 28, 2003 - So as to offer a bit of levity prior to (p)Resident Dubya's "Disgrace of the Union" speech tonight, I added Mass Transit SNAFUs. Laugh while you still can ...
Late breaking story - midnight 1/27/03 - the REAL reason for the delay in the start of the war with Iraq. A View From The Fringe scoops each and every major news network with this one! Check out War with Iraq - an update.
Monday, January 27, 2003 - Added a significant new convenience for visitors to this web site: the new IRS 1040EZ form in JPEG format. Check it out!
Saturday, January 25, 2003 - Decided to upload some unfinished works-in-progress, starting with the essay An Early Sign of Defiance.
This web site was born on a whim and is experimental in nature, so in that there are no hard and fast rules, I decided to try adding works in progress and see how things gel. You may find it interesting to witness how some of these essays develop and change. You might find it boring and unprofessional. Some readers may even feel compelled to offer suggestions or comments. I'll entertain any and all e-mail received. Email addy: alienjeff AT charter DOT net
Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - Although the past two days have been blessed with beautiful clear skies, the benefit of full sunlight hasn't provided much solar heating. The cold spell has us all in its grip and it isn't going to let go until sometime early next week, at the earliest. Sigh, piss and moan...
My in-laws are in Florida for a couple of months. When they call, they're constantly complaining about how cold it is down there, expecting some degree of sympathy from us. Sorry, but I'd simply love to have to suffer in some of that 40-50 degree weather they've been cursed with.
Today is the second consecutive day that the temperature at Raquette Lake, New York, in the central Adirondacks, has been lower than Barrow, Alaska, on the northernmost coast of Alaska (on the Arctic Ocean)! Tough times in the Adirondacks this winter. The area was virtually cut off from the rest of the world during a storm earlier in the season, and now sub-zero temperatures being the norm, day in and day out ...
Been busy with trades work of late - carpentry and electrical - which has kept my time at the keyboard to a minimum. I had a client reschedule a job into next week, so Thursday and Friday are now free and I plan on kicking some major ass on the keyboard. Stay tuned!
Monday, January 20, 2003 - Literary Storm Warning! I've started a new file on the "composition" computer in the office. The file is appropriately named "PISSED.doc" and started out my personal top ten list of things that piss me off. Oddly enough, I haven't yet listed ten such things, though I'm working on it. The number of items on the list is taking a back seat to expounding on individual list items, the most recent item being WOMEN DRIVING SUVs. This subject will no doubt become an upcoming article du jour and perhaps even the subject for a new "A View From The Fringe" pamphlet. Stay tuned!
Sunday, January 19, 2003 - Saint Patrick, the homeless and looking forward to Spring. And it's still cold. Due to all manner of layoffs and financial lunacy in the capital city, there is going to be a fundraiser so the Hartford Saint Patrick Day parade can "happen." The city needs $25,000 to meet expenses for the parade. This was a news story on the local television station tonight.
The very next story showed some homeless people standing around a fire they built in a discarded 55-gallon drum. These homeless were looking for donations, no doubt for food and other sundry items.
The city of Hartford seems more concerned about raising money for the parade than it does for its homeless. Hmmm.
And the deep freeze continues. Though there is more daylight now at 5 P.M. signaling we're been through the middle of the winter and are heading towards spring, with the temperatures where they've been, it's hard to imagine the middle of winter being in the past ...
Saturday, January 18, 2003 - The Deep Freeze. This cold snap sucks. Sucks hard. High suckage quotient. Suckage to the n-th degree. To give you an idea of just how cold it was on the porch outside my office window on the third floor in Hartford this morning, I refer you to a map of Alaska. Got it? There's a town on the northernmost coast, right on the Arctic Ocean, named Barrow. What does Barrow, Alaska, have to do with the weather in Hartford, Connecticut, you muse?
My opening web page when signing onto the Internet each morning has a listing of locations and current weather conditions for each. Well, this morning the temperature was the SAME for both Barrow and Hartford. A distressing "first" to say the least. I don't fare well in this cold: I just want to stay indoors and hibernate. Be it watching television, writing, reading, playing cards or cleaning the toilet bowl, just about anything beats having to go outside and subjecting one's body, mind and soul to the elements du jour.
My landlord tells me: "Don't worry, Jeff. The January thaw is just around the corner." Why is it that I'm never carrying a handgun when I need one the most?