Brett Mason's Brett Bugle

January 2007 Archives

You are in the Brett Bugle archives right now. The HOMEPAGE is much more important.


2007-01-31         category: NONE

~ all actors should be shot ~I had to use the clip-art you see attached to today's entry; it cracks me up. Ain't nothing wrong with a good crack-up once in a while.

Since I haven't had much work in the past 3 weeks, I've been watching a lot of movies. Some of the foreign films I've seen recently, like Pan's Labyrinth, have no Hollywood* or British** actors in them. But I am especially pleased when I watch a foreign film like Taxi 3 which has a famous American actor (speaking French) in it.

Right now I am in the process of watching a French film called La Doublure which has a famous British actress speaking French in it. Remember Kristin Scott Thomas from The English Patient? She's so fluent in French that she plays a major French part in this French movie. According to IMDB, Kristin did her own overdubbing for the French version of Four Weddings and a Funeral. Impressive!

* I say "Hollywood" here instead of "American" because Rochelle has made me very aware that Mexicans and Brazilians are also officially American, since they live in Central America or South America.

** Note: Mary Ann puts her seal of approval on the word "British" but hates it when I say that someone lived in Britain. I'm mentioning it now, on record, that my sister and my niece both lived in Britain.
 


2007-01-29         category: LIFE

~ winter of my discontent ~Things were going really, really well for me in 2007, but then Lexington got hit with some bitter-cold weather. I liked the thin blanket of snow we got, but I do not like having my ears turn into icicles.

Kinda figures that this climate change began on the 28TH day of the year. (If you don't know why I pay special attention to the 28th, just ask me.)

In my favorite movie of all time, Groundhog Day, our hero was heard to say the following: "You want a prediction about the weather, you're asking the wrong Phil. I'll give you a winter prediction. It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life."
 


2007-01-26         category: MONEY

~ I have 63 cents ~Today I feel compelled to tell more SOMETHING FOR NOTHING stories.

ONE.  This morning I had free Chick-N-Minis at Chick-Fil-A because of a coupon attached to a calendar I got in the mail. No, it was not a Chick-Fil-A calendar, it was a "Lexington Town Planner Community Resource Calendar" from the nice folks at TownPlanner.com. It arrived at my house unexpectedly, last month, addressed to "resident," and it has free coupons in it. Sweet!

TWO.  On a recent trip to IHOP, I used a gift card that Dad gave me for Christmas, and the receipt made it seem that it hadn't been used before, even though it had. After some checking on the balance and transactions, then studying receipts, I discovered that my initial purchase on the same card never got authorized, so I had previously received a free meal at IHOP without knowing it. (The current/second purchase did go through, so I know the gift card is capable of losing its value.)

THREE.  When my last Visa bill arrived from Chase bank, I was a little shocked to see that the bank credited my account for no good reason, bringing my 52-cent debt up to a zero balance. I reckon they decided that giving me 52 cents is better than watching this tiny amount carry over into a new year.

FOUR.  Last year, Larry Sharpe had bought me a gift subscription to the Lexington Herald-Leader, and I'm pretty sure that the subscription has expired. Fortunately for me, the Sunday paper continues to appear on my doorstep every week, despite my lack of payment. I sure do like that, but I ain't gonna pay for it.

FIVE.  In a recent Sunday paper, there was a grocery coupon for free dishwashing detergent, so I thought, what the heck, I'll get some. As an added bonus, the cashier rang it in for the full amount printed on the coupon, which was more than the sale price of the actual item, so she basically gave me free Pop-Tarts in the same order.

I'll stop now because your head is probably on the verge of exploding. You can't stand it that I live such a charmed life, while your life is full of stress and pain.
 

2007-01-25

Had lunch with Danielle today, and I want to mark the occasion by posting this nice photo of my two friendly neighbors Danielle and Mary Ann (click to enlarge):

DT and MAF
Mary Ann F and Danielle T

October 7, 2006


2007-01-24         category: SOCIAL

~ find a little religion ~
Had lunch in the Fayette Mall food court with Jenna and her coworker Sheena today, and after we ate, we went to Family Christian Books (in Fayette Place shopping center) so that Jenna could buy some gifts. At one point, Sheena and I were talking about something, and we realized that Jenna was not nearby. We had a quick look around and still did not see Jenna. So Sheena said, "maybe she's been raptured."


 


2007-01-23         category: FOOD

~ you cannot eat me ~Had lunch at Joseph-Beth Café with Heather today, and on our way out the door, I spotted ALE-8 LOLLIPOPS. If you are keeping a wish list for me, please add this to the "Gifts Under $5" category. A bag of 5 lollipops costs $3.95 at Joseph Beth. (see photo of bag)

After buying another type of specialty candy on my way home — the Valentine's Day bags of dark chocolate M&M's are on sale at Walgreen's for $2 each — I surfed the web for Ale-8 candy bargains and found nothing except this article which mentions the suckers. Plus, I found a place where you can buy more than 5 at a time (see photo of gift box).

Oh, by the way, on the same display case, Joseph-Beth has placed jars of Ale-8 salsa. That doesn't interest me as much, but I can't say I'm not curious about what Ale-8 salsa would taste like.
 


2007-01-21         category: SOCIAL

~ hear what he has to say ~Making a new rule now. If I'm home, or if I'm only away from home for a short time, then I'm keeping the cell phone turned off. That cell phone is annoying me more and more and more. I know it's really handy when I'm away from home, but these days I am home A LOT, so I would much rather have phone conversations on my landline.

You see, when someone calls me on my cell phone, they are almost always calling from a cell phone. And when I know that I am having trouble understanding the incoming words, I would also like to know that they are not having trouble hearing my outgoing words. At least one of us needs to be on a landline, so, as Mom used to say, "if it is to be, it is up to me."


you cannot hear me on my cell phone earpiece

 


2007-01-19         category: LIFE

~ been sleeping really well lately ~Is this good news or bad news? I've just finished an entire workweek without doing any work at all.

Some definite good news is that gas prices are down to $1.869 per gallon here in Lexington. Might be time for a long car trip down to Dad's house, especially if he decides to reimburse me for gas.

Some definite bad news is that when I am promoted to master of the universe, I will execute all the bartenders who bring me Coke and Sprite mixed together when I order ginger ale. Ginger ale has ginger in it, dipships, and Coke+Sprite does not.

Can't think of any other good or bad news right now, unless you want to know that I've finally seen THE SHINING for the first time ever. I saw it with Mary Ann, who similarly had never seen it before, in her friend's Mom's luxury home-theater room out in the luxury horse-farm section of highway 60.

Oh, yeah, speaking of Mary Ann: this week she taught me that it is grammatically incorrect to say "one less" or "three less" or any other number and "less." It seems the correct grammar is "one fewer" or "three fewer" or whatever. Did you know that? I never knew that. Now we know.
 


2007-01-13         category: LIFE

~ are you all right ~Looking back on this blog, I can see that I really haven't posted any news about my life in 10 days. So, okay, here's a small sample of recent Brett happenings:

When some random lady backed into my car in a parking lot, she made a small dent, which ended up costing Nationwide Insurance company about five hundred and eighty bucks. And now the dent is gone. (search for more insurance anecdotes.)

Took my neighbor friend Mary Ann on her first trip to Grapevine Bar for karaoke. I sang "Promiscuous" by myself, even though it's a duet. (search for more karaoke anecdotes.)

On a recent trip to Good Foods Co-op with my neighbor friend Mary Ann, I saw my ex-girlfriend Erin, but I don't know if she saw me. I realized that I am finally okay with how she excluded and dismissed me, now that I've finished that last year of emotional turmoil. (search for more health-food-store anecdotes.)

In addition to spending time with Mary Ann, I also visit with Danielle occasionally, like when I took pictures of her recent haircut. Also, she invited me out to eat dinner with her family at Jalapeno's, which was nice except for the mixup with my order. (search for more Danielle or Jalapeno's anecdotes.)

Oh, hey, there was a TV audition in Lexington recently, but I didn't audition. I just hung out with Mary Ann and her friends as they auditioned. I took pictures of that experience but will not be posting a link. If you're curious, the show is called "Fortune," so keep your ears perked up for more news on this huge giveaway of huge money to worthy causes. (read a Herald-Leader article about it.)

Last night I returned to my old open-band habits, playing piano at the Friday night Contra dance. It was the first Contra dance I've attended since the one that Mom and I attended together in October. (search for more dance anecdotes.)

There are a couple of other things I could write about, I think, including movies I've watched or programming work I've done, but I won't. Gotta get back offline and try to find more meaning and happiness in life.
 


2007-01-09         category: NONE

~ you can borrow my bugle ~
No doubt you're frantically checking this page now, looking for updates on Brett's happy new year, but Bugle updates are low on my priority list. Let's just say I have new motivation to stay offline.

 


2007-01-05         category: BRETT

~ exciting trips and notable achievements ~Yesterday, Rachel added a blog entry to her MySpace profile which asked me to post my New Year's resolutions. So, okay, Rachel, here ya go!

 ~ go to Australia, with a long layover in Los Angeles
 ~ pay off my house mortgage

That's all I can think of right now. Maybe when I finish my workday in Danville, I'll think of some more.
 

2007-01-02

Now that the old year is over, I can run reports on my productivity and cash flow. Curious? Let me just tell all the lovely hotties out there who are looking to replace their workaholic boyfriends: I averaged 9.5 hours of work per week in 2006. Here's to a long, happy relationship between you and me, where I spend only 488 hours of my year in the office, and I spend the other 8272 hours with you.

Since I don't have any recent photographic evidence of me working, I offer you these work-related photos that I shot today of the tree choppers who invaded my backyard. What hard workers they were; what an inspiration.

removing tree branches from power lines


2007-01-00

Would you like to read my blog entries from December 2006, November 2006, October 2006, or earlier? Sure you would! Feel free! Go read them! Gosh!

 


For search engines: Kentucky KY 40504 USA, Brett Mason, not in Lexinton

~ valid HTML 4.0 ~   ~ valid CSS ~