it's been a while since one of my corpses has been published, but i think that this one was definitely worth the wait.

poor sammy.

his name isn't really sammy, but lately he's had a bit of an identity issue. howard went away to visit family last week and when he returned, he was sammy and his best friend wasn't being too kind to him. in fact, she was down right nasty. sammy didn't exactly understand. it wasn't as though he had changed. well, except for the red medallion that hung around his neck. they had given it to him while he was on vacation and at the time he thought it to be rather flattering. on the medallion were engraved three words and a long number. howard couldn't read, but it didn't bother him. whatever the medallion said, it was still about the most beautiful thing he thought he had ever worn. that is, until he returned home and ginger started acting snotty.

still here.... still sick....

ah-choo!

it started sometime monday night. when i woke up, it was there but it would fade away. by three o'clock yesterday, it was back and it hasn't gone away.

i honestly can't remember the last time i had a really sore throat. it may have been a month ago, i just can't remember. i probably won't remember having this one in another month. home remedies of warm salt water, ibuprofen, and antiseptic mouth wash do little to calm the throb of sharp pain in the back of my throat.

during a severe infection many years ago, they took an x-ray of my skull. what appeared on that film were two enormous cavaties behind my eyes and nose. yes, a large percentage of my head is just air folks. not much surprise there. today, those cavaties are reacting to small particles of pollen and dust in the air and expelling funk into my nasal passage that drips, drips, drips down that little flap of skin above the back of my tongue and makes it swell with redness and pain.

being at home sick affords me time to catch up on neglected routines of the past. reading what you have been up to. reading that you have been feeling what i imagined you were feeling. and i'm feeling a wave of guilt for not being around more for everyone that had become used to me being around. i am in love and have let myself become swept up into that without keeping a tether tied to my friendships.

the chimchim redesign died on the operating table and has been put on backburner time after time. it's coming soon. it has to.

there are all these little things that should have been done and weren't. i have excuses and alibis, but they do no good here. i must try to allocate more time to these things: responsibilities, friendships, routines, commitments, and roommates.

take two.

i often wonder what happened to jimi cagle. i've tried several times, using the power of the internet, to locate him. i've even been so bold as to randomly call james cagles in the phone book, hoping one day to reunite with my childhood friend.

i wonder what he's like today. is he still the freckle-faced misfit that i knew in fourth thru eighth grades? with that unkempt curly strawberry-blond hair? perhaps he's a lawyer, wearing nice suits and showing up at social functions in his european sedan. how much have i changed in the nearly twenty years since he and i rode our bikes through the bellaire high school parking lot? would we even recognize each other if we bumped into each other at the grocery store? a lot can change in twenty years.

even one year can show great changes in a person. today, chimchim is one year old.

damn.

the patriotic pizza box




after last fall's terrorist attack on the united states, i have come to recognize the things about my country that i love. as a powerhouse of civilization and innovator of technology, we have transformed the earth and the way of life of the urbanized man. we invented baseball, basketball, doritos, the pt cruiser, and of course, pizza. other things that can be attributed to our wonderful country are sunlight, bubble baths, nair, pez candy, television, n.a.f.t.a., and the sport utility vehicle.

but pizza is by far our greatest invention.

a brilliant mind once stated the secret to a great pizza. it's the crust, the sauce, and the cheese. we americans invented all three of those as well. we even invented the pizza slice, without which it would be much more difficult to eat pizza.

since our great country was created, nearly 2,000 years ago, we have been on the forefront of pizza innovation. and this past year, challenged with the horror of terrorism on our own shores, americans have once again stepped up to the plate and hit a homer for the great u. s. of a. it fills me with pride to view such patriotism encasing one of america's most loved meals-in-a-box. i'm proud to live in a place where the drive thru is not only a convenience, it's a right; where i have a choice: smoking or non; where i can "biggie size" if i want to; where i can eat my pizza with pride out of cardboard that bears the flag of the very country that created "to go."

take that, osama!

recently heard in houston:

"jeff's taking care of the whole pants situation."

houston...

...is hot, humid, tacky, moldy, polleny...

it's too damn sultry in here.

i'm not sure why people actually live here.

what are your daily routines?

someone was very interested in my work this morning. (s)he sat there for a while just watching me. i think (s)he might be trying to steal my designs.

happy birthday mom!

i'm not sure if it would be inappropriate to tell you how old my mom is. it doesn't matter though. she doesn't look a day over 40.