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	AIDS Walk '03
	10.13.03 - 10.20.03

Austin Babtist Women enterain the crowds at AIDS Walk Austin 2003 The AIDS Walk was this Sunday. Turn out was pretty good, but it sure didn't seem like there were hordes of people like in previous years. It sure feels like participation is declining. Which is a shame, cuz with the current administration's lack of suppport and funding, it's more important then ever that we support our services. (and thats as political as I will ever get here!) My group of Walkers got down the small number of three. Everyone had “something come up” so perhaps a lot of people had busy schedules this weekend. Regardless, our little team made over $600 in donations, and that's the most important thing! For everyone who made a contribution- THANKS OOOOOOODLES! Bill, Martin, and Rick walked with me. We ate at Wendy's first (greasy burgers make fine walkin' food!) and then had a little Amy's Ice Cream pick-me-up on the capital's front lawn. As usual, the Austin Babtist Women were on hand to entertain the crowd, while Lisa Tingle sang the national anthem. Not a person made a peep as she belted the song out. This gal can sing! The walk was fine, though for some reason it seems longer every year (cuz I get older every year!) The walk is about 3 miles, and by the time we got to the end, our little feet were hot and steamy. Bill and Martin headed off to the mall for new sneakers (I guess they wanted to use their current pairs one last time?) and I went home and did a two hour bike ride. The weather was so fantastically perfect. Low 80's with a little crispness to the air. I tooled around Town Lake and just basically enjoyed the outdoors. It was calorie burning AND relaxing. Martin and Bill are both going to be on my Team Chaos for the Hill Country Ride this year, and I am already making big plans for the team. Seems kind of far off, but before we know it, Spring will be here, and we will have to get on the 'ole bikes and ride them hills!

Trip to the Spa	Saturday
Brandon came down from Dallas on Friday. He had a doctor's appointment and then we went out to dinner with Jimmy and Tim. Jimmy and Tim are lots of fun to be around with, and its just like Brandon to get me out to socialize. He stayed the night and we had breakfast at Taco Cabana. (Pancakes! Yum!) I took Kitty! in for her second trip to Midtowne Spa...er..Midtowne Grooming (The Spa is Austin's one and only gay bathhouse..yes! we actually have one!) It's $45 bucks to have her bathed, trimmed (She gets a silhoutte), nails clipped (that's worth $20 alone!) and those nasty anal glands expressed (That's worth a $100 alone ~shudder~) While she was at the spa and the yard was empty, I did a bang up job doing some Fall preparations. I mowed, raked up the leaves and trimmed back the shrubbery. Yes, leaves are falling here, and much more will continue. There are a lot of big trees in this area (Yeah!) so leaf season is a lot of work. The grass has slowed down on growing, but everything is green and still pretty, but it won't be soon before it all looks dead. Yuck! I picked Kitty! up at about 3pm and she looked so different! The trim and her coat look so nice. And she was soooo happy! She had a cute little Halloween themed kerchief on! And she was mightily impressed with the yard makeover too. I also made arrangements for her to stay there over the Thanksgiving holiday, as I will be in Costa Rica. 10 whole days at the spa!

A Little Truck Drama	Wed-Thurs
My truck started stalling and idling real rough this week. But real sporadically. So it was one of those “Take it to the shop and it wont do what it was doing while the mechanic things ur a nut job” things. They did find that I didn't have any oil in the engine (despite an oil change in July) so they think that's all it was. The truck is still doing it, so I will just wait for it to die on the side of the road and make them come get it. “See, I told you so.” My lease on this truck is over in February/March. I can't believe I have had this one three years. That's the longest I have held on to a car. Whilest at the dealership, I looked at the new F150's in preparation for this momentous event. They're pretty slick! I had kinda promised myself I would get EXACTLY what I wanted this time, instead of what I could afford (hahahahahahaha!). I wanted 4WD despite not needing it, just because I like the extra height the tires and suspension give it….aren't I pathetic. The new F150's sweet. It's roomier and has lots of high tech interior design that I totally dig. I found the perfect one! $38,000 bucks! Geeeeeeeezzzuuuuuuuss. I'm getting old and I remember when trucks were $9,000. That's like a quarter the cost of a new home. And 14 MPG!? How can I work for a conservation organization and justify 14mpg?! I vacillate from saying "Screw this!" and just getting a Vespa or should I just bite the bullet and make my own contribution to punching a hole in the atmosphere and sucking the last drop of oil from our land. It's the American Way afterall. Get a smaller cheaper, more fuel-efficient truck? Compromise? Are you daft? It's great that I have months to debate this. I'm gonna need it to talk myself into it.

Reading Corner	Friday
It's hard to believe I still get time in to read books. Thank goodness for the Elliptical trainer thingy! I read this book American Gods about “What if gods migrated to the U.S. when the emigrants came.” What happens to forgotten gods? What will the new gods do with the old gods? It's a big book, and it initially grabbed my attention, feeling much like a novelized comic book (for good reason) but it got under my skin and not in a good way. The gods were too frail, too killable, and basically too human. There were whole 40 page sections that I was completely lost, and some sections I just skipped because it was tedious. Yeah, I liked the book, but it needed about 120 pages of editing, and a little more godlike abilities in the gods. I went and bought a bunch of Star Trek books to read while on the stairmaster. These books are such light reading, and “feel good” books that I gobble them up. Been waiting for “Gods Above” the 13th book in the New Frontiers series. Can't wait to start in on it. Peter David never fails to tell a good story. I must have a god complex right now.

New Choons
I heard on The Screen Savers that iTunes by Apple was coming out for the PC. Apple's slogan “Hell Froze Over” Yep, the greedy guys at Apple, decided that their 10 percent of the market place share that could actually use their wildly popular and profitable online music download would make them REALLY rich if they allowed the PC users to shop with them. I was stoked! This is what I've wanted. A place I could find choons that I could pay a small fee to get the music, and perhaps, even maybe, more of that money going to the artists. 400,000 songs! But I soon learned of some interesting snafus. None of the music I was looking for was there. I know I like “fresh” dance beats. The stuff you might hear on the Digital cable “Music Choice” channels or in a dance club. As far as I can see, a downloadable music venue would be a perfect fit for these artists. They don't get wide distribution, no major label picks them up, and only the DJ's can get at them. But I figure, if I hear it on Music Choice, I should be able to buy it. I mean, why play it if we can't buy it?!? So the lack of music that I like immediately became apparent. I can wait this out. As this paradigm succeeds more artists will get there stuff on there. Wait wait wait. Then..the clincher. I bought two tracks. It was downloaded into My Documents folder with and m4p extension. I wanted to just drag it into my music folder on my iPod, or move it over my my computer with the better sounds system. But no, I can't copy the file, and if I play it on another computer with iTunes. It says I have to login and verify by me username and password that I can have access to it. Oh for cripes sake. I suppose I could figure out a way to hack it, but ..... I just paid for it!?!? I guess they think I will just download it and re-distribute it on Kazaa. How bout a little trust here. I just PAID you for it! I just GAVE YOU MY CREDIT CARD NUMBER. So I can't even drag it down to my iPod the way that I want. I use Xplay on my iPod so I can use it like a hard drive. And iTunes is not compatible I guess. So if you are an Xplay user, DON't install iTunes. It might mess your system up. Final Summary: Not enough music YET and NO trust extended to someone who just bought the music legally. Grrrrrrrr But on a positive note…(finally!) I have had some amazing good luck with some new CD's Been a fan of bt for a long time. Have always liked his remixes of various artists, especially when he gets his hands on a Tori Amos track. But his full-length albums have been spotty for me. This last album, Emotional Technology is pretty dang good from start to finish, with only two tracks that are way too repetitive for even my taste. (The Great Escape and Commiunicate) Bt has a pretty good voice, and two tracks are getting lots of Music Choice airplay. Delerium also has a new album out (its been out a while actually) and I never realized how many of my friends really enjoy this group. The album is top notch, and if you've been a fan in the past, race out and get it. You won't be disappointed. Conjure One, an offshoot of Delerium (Rhys Fulber of Delerium side project), has a track with Poe on it. I purchased the CD Single, and it has three very different and awesome versions of “Center of the Sun.” If you are Poe fan, you better pick this one up. At the time I purchased the Conjure One CD single there wasn't a full album. Today Amazon emailed me that the full album was available. So I ordered it. Been trying to build up some new music to have on my trip to Costa Rica in November. Hours on the beach requires hours of music! Been a bit obsessed about getting some new music. Have I mentioned I am going to Costa Rica in November? ~he he~

Next Weekend	Sat. Sun
Flying in to Moline this Friday, then driving to Burlington Iowa for my Gramma's 80th Birfaday party. Will have my laptop and hopefully some interesting photos from the heartland! I fly back late Sunday night, so should be time to get an entry done! Go Buckeyes!

Jason - Oct.03 Did you know everytime you download something off my site, it costs me money? Don't you just love Capitalism? If you have enjoyed the journal or any of the other features, why not join the Bio4ms area or go shopping in the Gear section? Ok, so you may not be into naked boys (what?!?) and you certainly don't have to join every month. Just toss a few bucks my way every now and then so I can keep paying off those bandwidth bills and improving the site. Ahhh..the power of the dangling carrot! Keeps me going! And I promise to keep you all going...with the most mundane journal entries, fabulous columns, and of course, the hottest guys I can lay my lense on. So JOIN already! ~g~ Above: October 2003 Bio4ms and Bio4msX featuring Jason