Screw Taco Bell, Kwik Trip is where it's at. $1.25 with tax for 3 hot dogs beats the shit out of anything one could order from Taco Bell. Fools.

Yeah, it's been a long time since I've written anything lately. All the working and drinking has me worn out. We had an inordinate amount of cancellations this week due to both weather and maintenance, which has made work a little crazy. The Tavern Tour has been rolling on full force, and as of Friday night's visit to the Apple Pub I've made it through 25 bars and restaurants so far. Tried going to the Hide-A-Way Thursday night, but they closed early, so Corey and I tried going to the Corner Pub instead. The jackass bartender refused to serve Corey because he apparently thought he had a fake ID or something. Guess which bar is getting the shittiest review in town? One of these days I will seriously sit down and do some updating on the TT website and write a little more here, but as for tonight I'm tired and need to catch some Z's.

What's with my obsession lately with macaroni and cheese? I used to eat it a lot when I was younger, but then I grew to hate it and went several years without eating any. Now, in the last few months, I've taken to eating it all the time again. The time will surely come soon enough when I will become tired of it again, but for some reason I've been eating it weekly. I guess I only mention this because I'm making it right now. Mmm... food.

It's starting. The tendinitis in my left knee is starting to flare up again thanks to repetitive motions at my job. Throughout the day - and especially on days that I work the ramp - I do a lot of turning and lifting. We're told not to lift and twist with our backs, so I've taken to lifting with my legs and then pivoting on my leg. Being right handed, this means that most of my pivoting is done on my left leg, and if I don't pivot on the balls of my feet, then I end up planting my foot and pivoting at the knee. This would, of course, explain why my knee has been in so much pain lately. Not good.

I went to Jokers by myself tonight - alone - on ladies' night. It was just as freaky (if not moreso) than Xtreme was on Friday night. I went there just because Carrie wanted me to go on ladies' night, but apparently she must have decided that it was too late to go out afterall. I went in, had my one beer, and got the hell out. I stopped down by Betsy for one last drink before heading home. I ended up being the only one in there, and she closed up right after I left. I didn't take any photos tonight because whipping out my camera when I'm alone in a rowdy, packed dive like that always gets me a little worried. Well, that's not totally true - I did get my photos of the bathroom for the "places to go in Appleton" posters. Tomorrow night it's off to Hank & Karen's Tavern over on John Street. Nighty night.

I went to Mark's East Side earlier today for the latest leg of the Tavern Tour. When I came in and sat down at the bar, there was one other guy there over at the other end. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite place from where I knew him. I thought about it while I was eating and I listened in on his conversation with the bartender. Then, just as he was getting up to leave, I saw his face fully and heard his voice and it finally came to me: it was my ninth grade homeroom teacher. I didn't say anything to him, because it has been so long since the last time I saw him that I wasn't sure he'd even remember me anyway.

Instead of getting the rest my body so heartily craves, I sat up tonight working on the Tavern Tour website. Pretty much everything is up and updated except for the About page, which I should get finished up and posted later today. Yee-haw!

Well, even though there was a large photo of me and some lame quotes, the article seems to have not attracted many visitors other than the usuals (thanks guys!). I was debating at first whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, but in the end I realized it's probably a good thing, because I had actually made the mistake of thinking I might have to censor myself for a couple of days in case somebody actually came here and read something I didn't want. Now I can go on writing the same old drivel I usually do without anyone saying anything. I should probably still give it a couple of days, but it seems like all is good.

The "mundane" stuff I write here really isn'y meant to be exciting anyway. The most exciting and intuitive stuff goes into my real diary, which nobody is going to read until long after I'm gone. That's when some biographer will come back and pick up all sorts of little nuggets of knowledge, words of wisdom, and real insight into who I am. If I wrote all of that here, it would mostly be wasted. I mean, who really reads a blog in search of some guy's pseudo-philosophical ramblings? I write for myself and for my friends, because that's who I know and that's what I can do best in my current situation and with this medium. I also create websites of other kinds for other purposes, such as the Too Much Trivia in the Pants website, the Tavern Tour website, and the Groutflow website. Each of them serves a specific purpose. I guess everything is really just relative. I'm not really sure where I was going with this.

Anyway, today got to be quite a long day. I came into work and found out that it was indeed the case that I'd be running the joint by myself all afternoon. Granted, there's not much that happens on a Saturday afternoon that one person probably couldn't handle... if nothing special happens. Of course, as our friend Murphy could tell us, this means that something just had to happen. A woman showed up to pick up her mother, but could neither find her mother nor a Northwest agent (because I was stuck at the checkpoint for two hours and unable to be at the counter). Thankfully, with a little assistance from a sheriff's deputy, Comair covered the checkpoint for me while I assisted this lady in finding her mother - problem solved. The day just seemed to drag on later. I stopped by Corey's house on my break, because his family was throwing a graduation party for his brother. By the time I got back to work I was just exhausted. By the time we got the planes unloaded and cleaned, it was almost 10. If it hadn't been for the fact that I had already scheduled Bazil's and the Firefly for tonight's leg of the tavern tour, I would just as soon have gone home. We stuck around there for a while, Corey and I went to Ravens for a drink, and then he dropped me at home. Sunday is my first official "day off" from the tour. It may be the Friday of my work week, but I'll glad take a night to just come home, kick back, and get to bed early. These late nights are killing me. As for the TT website, I really and truly will get all the reviews posted and accessible by the end of the day Monday. Almost all of them are posted online already, but I just don't have links to them making them accessible from the TT homepage.

Ah, my 15 seconds of fame among those who actually read the Life & Style section of the P-C has arrived:

Post-Crescent - Online journals are catching on as ways to keep in touch with friends and family or as a way of reaching the masses

It's not as bad as it could be, but I still come off as a complete tool. As for the photo - unfortunately not seen here - I thought he would zoom in more or at least crop it. Whatever - what can you do? Time to go back to my mundane existence....

Why do the damn bars have to close so early? I know what you're thinking: Isn't 2:30 late enough? Well, not when I have to work until midnight! For me, the night is young. I'm wide awake and feel like I could keep partying for several more hours. As far as I'm not concerned, the bars needn't close before the sun comes up... if they really need to close at all. I mean, if we let the bars decide how late they want to stay open - and if they deny service to those already visibly intoxicated as they are required to by state law - then going to the bar would be like a house party and they'd all close when everyone just started trickling out on their own. I kind of like that idea.

In the little bit of time I had tonight, first I went on down to The Xtreme, where I met up with Carrie, Matt, and Corey. Carrie and Matt had been partying for several hours - first at The Bar and then at The Xtreme - so they were about ready to head home by the time Corey and I got there. Corey and I only stuck around for an hour - long enough to say we'd been there, have a beer, and hit the road - and then we headed downtown to meet up with Amy, Dan, and Jen. We met them at Houdini's, but they were predictably ready to leave by the time we got there, so we walked in, said hi, and the five of us walked out. Those three wanted to go to The Bar, but Corey and I had our hearts set on Ravens, so we went down there instead. I tried starting a tab, but since I only had time for one drink anyway, I ended up eventually paying for it in cash. I insisted several times that the bouncer should throw me out so I could make a faux drunken scene, but he said it would be too much work. I suppose. That was the full-on excitement of tonight.

Upon returning home, I had hoped that today's new P-C stories would be up, but they weren't, so I couldn't link to the one I wanted. I did find one worthy of comment - one relating to several of my earlier posts - and I'll get back to that in a minute (follow me here!). I decided to check my email also, and I found an email from Carrie requesting that I mention her bunnies. She and Matt have baby bunnies right now, but they haven't found enough good homes for all of them, so the thinking is that maybe someone will read this post and have interest. Anyway, if anyone is interested in one of her baby bunnies, check out her website for more info.

Okay, back to the P-C story. The news out of city hall is that the Appleton Licensing and Ordinance Committee has denied the Appleton Area Jaycees' permit request for their annual Independence Day fireworks show because the application was filed three days after the deadline. Steve Wideman writes in his article that "Appleton’s full Common Council... has a history of denying permits for late applicants." Yeah, my ass. I'm still pissed about the New Year's Around the Park celebration being granted a permit by the full council. Earl Brooker tries to sound like a real hardass stickler for the rules in the article, yet New Year's Around the Park was allowed to occur - in his ward no less! So, Mr. Brooker, rules can be bent for events in your ward, but not in the wards of others? I'm also still disappointed that I was out of town for the election in April. My one vote wouldn't have kept him from being reelected - yes, I live in the same ward as Mr. Brooker somehow - but at least I would have known that I helped the other side' cause.

That's enough out of me for one night. I should try to get more work done on the TT website since I'm still so wide awake.

I've now made it through the first dozen bars on the tavern tour. Tonight's experience - number 12 - was another new one: Brandy's Bar. Nothing too glamorous or exciting, but it was nice and friendly. Oh, and drinking there comes cheaply. After seeing all these neighborhood bars, it's going to be hard to justify going back to drinking at places like Jekyll's and Jim's and Ravens when the summer is over, no matter how much I like them.

I'm trying to get some more TT pages up tonight. All 12 reviews are written so far, so it's mostly a matter of prepping the photos and inserting the reviews on the pages, but it still takes some time for each one. I guess I should probably get around to making out next week's schedule sometime tomorrow also. Sheesh - I don't know which wears me out more: working or drinking.

Mike, the P-C photographer just left. He was here for the better part of an hour snapping photos for the article, which is supposed to be in Saturday's paper. I just hope that with all the photos he snapped they find a least one where I don't look like a total tool. He tried all kinds of angles and positions and other things, so there has to be something worthwhile in there. As he even admitted, you can only do photos of a boy and his computer in so many ways, and when you snap as many as he does for as many different stories as he does, eventually it's hard to come up with fresh ideas.

Another wonderful morning here. I'm currently waiting on the P-C photographer, who should be here any time now. I suppose I should worry after that about eating some lunch and whatnot before I have to be to work. Don't want to work. Don't want to work. Don't want to work....

We're going to Brandy's Bar tonight. I have no idea what to expect, except that there's a distinct possibility that I might be the only one in attendance again. I wasn't last night though, as Trixie met me at the Frozen Tundra. I arrived right as the tail end of the Lawrence pub crawl was making its way out, so it really died down quickly after that. We were the last two out when we left about 1:15, and they closed right after that. We went down then to Jekyll's, where Betsy was ready to snap. Lawrence graduation is this weekend, and I think all the bar owners downtown are ready for summer again.

Grrr... I slept right through my alarm this morning, meaning I also slept through the apointment time to have my car checked out. I called them up and they said I could bring my car down between 10 and 10:30, which is what I'm leaving to do in just a few minutes. When I finally woke up, I couldn't figure out how I had slept right through my alarm, so I turned it back on again and realized that not only had I set it to the radio alarm, but the tuner must have gotten bumped at some point, so all that was coming through the radio was static. Fuck. I should probably check that first next time.

I'd love to sit up and keep on working on stuff, but I have to have my car to the repair shop by 9 to have it checked out, so I'd better get to sleep. I didn't get hardly anything accomplished tonight that I said I had want to. Hell, I didn't even touch the TT website, and that was the biggest thing I wanted to get done tonight. Man, I'm even a slacker when it comes to slacking.

I met Carrie at Friar Tuck's at 5 for happy hour. We had a few drinks and some food. I've been back home for nearly hour, but needed to unwind again before I could sit down at the computer for what could turn out to be several more hours of work. I would really like to get all 10 of the reviews so far posted on the TT website tonight if possible. That way tomorrow I'd start with a clean slate and could go back to only needing to do one a day. I'm also working out ideas for redesigning the starraver industries site again, as it really is awful, in addition to intending to actually finish the groutflow site one of the years.

In some ways I'm happy that I don't have to be at work today while it's raining, but on the other hand, I hate having my days off ruined by rain. The rain just makes me even lazier and less ambitious. I've spent the better part of my day (or, at least, since I finally climbed out of bed) sitting around in front of the tv vegging out. I suppose that's not much different than if I had wasted the day away here in front of my computer, but at least if I were in front of the computer I might have been getting something done. Well, I guess it doesn't matter now, for what is done is done. I didn't go the whole day without accomplishing anything - I called and set up an appointment for tomorrow morning to have my car looked at and see if they can assess what the problem might be. I'm hoping that it's just something minor, but I know deep down that it isn't... and this could be expensive.

I'm meeting Carrie in just over an hour at Friar Tuck's for happy hour. I think she's mostly looking for the drinks, and frankly, I wouldn't mind a few myself, but I'm also interested in the food. I'm not totally sure why I'm sharing all of this with you, but I guess it's what I've always done.

No, actually, I'm so not gellin'. What I am though is ready to take a break. I have the first four reviews done and posted along with a TTCrewmember page. I have nothing linking any of them to the main page, so there really isn't a way for anyone to find them yet, but fear not, for I shall accomplish that little task soon. This whole TT website thing is turning out to be a much bigger task than I had originally bargained for, and that's even after I scaled back some of my original plans. Whew. I'll be back in a few.

I've been back from The Speakeasy for nearly an hour now. Ugh. I mean, I've been to worse places, but The Speakeasy doesn't exactly rank among my favorites. Of course, I'd been there once before shortly after they opened, so I already had a little bit of an idea what to expect, but the place was just dead - and rightfully so. Matt and Carrie were already there before I got there, and Dave joined us shortly thereafter. Corey couldn't meet us there because he decided to work late to cover for a coworker who had an emergency. He said he'd check in later when he gets out of work, but I'm not sure if I'll still be up for going out then... especially since A) I'm broke until tomorrow, and B) I'm kind of settling into a groove to try and get as many of the tavern reviews posted from these first nine days as possible. I'm making good progress so far, so we'll see how it goes. I'm back to only one place tomorrow, so that should leave me with a lot more freetime. My day might not be completely free though if I can get my car in to be looked over and maybe even repaired tomorrow. I'm not sure if the brakes are the problem or if it's something else, but the squeeking problem is now turning into a grinding problem - as mentioned in my previous post.

Look at me, posting left-and-right today. I go nearly a week without a single post, and then a day like today comes along. I guess sometimes I just need one of these days.

And speaking of posting, congratulations are in order for Ben, Mena, and the whole Six Apart crew, as movabletype.org won the Webby Award this year for Best Practices.

Following on the Webby Award string, I see that The Onion was the People's Voice Winner in both the Humor and Print + Zines categories, but lost out on the Webby to get your war on and AlterNet, respectively. I don't know much about AlterNet, but I do know get your war on, and while the strips on that site have sometimes been hilarious, The Onion is just consistently funny. Anyway, sometimes you need the little guy to win I suppose.

I met Corey at Sergio's a little after 1 for lunch. We ate our food and I had one of their strawberry margaritas. Their menu said that they do margaritas right, so I just couldn't pass one up. I asked, and the manager approved me to take photos in the dining room, but she didn't want me taking any photos in bar. That's okay though, because we spent all of our time in the dining room anyway. It must have been well after 2:30 by the time we finally left. Corey had to head home and get his work clothes, while I drove off around town to snap photos of bars and restaurants that I've been to in the last week or am going to thins week. Now I'm back home.

My car is really going to shit fast, so I dug out my copy of my warranty today. I'm going to give the dealer a call tomorrow and ask them where I should take my car to get it looked at. I've had the problem with the power steering ever since I got the car, but now recently my right rear wheel has taken to squeeking and there is a loud grinding noise in some tight corners or in certain accelerating situations. I really need to get all of this fixed because I can't afford to be without my car.

So anyway, I'm going to get back to work on the TT website, but if anyone is looking for me, I'll be at The Speakeasy tonight starting around 8. I'm not sure how late I'll be there, but it probably won't be too late, because I've been in there before and I know already that it's not a very hopping place.

I'm planning on getting back to work on the TT website and getting the first week's worth of reviews posted yet today, but for now, I need to get rolling. I'm meeting Corey at 1 at Sergio's Mexican Restaurant for yet another stop on the Tavern Tour.

Hello once again one and all. Here is that redesign I've been talking about for so long. Barring a few minor glitches I might find along the way, what you see is what you get. So, here goes....

Fear not faithful readers, for although I may have neglected you over the last few days, I haven't forgotten you. I also didn't forget that yesterday was blueflower.org's 3rd birthday - I was just too busy to get online and make note of that fact. Of course, I have the next two days free again. Since I last wrote to you, I have been to Peggy's, MT Pockets, Route 66, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Grumpy's as the Tavern Tour moved forward. I was, of course, supposed to go to The Speakeasy last Wednesday, but they were closed before I could even get there, so now I'm going there tonight instead. All that has pretty much filled my freetime, yet I still haven't gotten a chance to post my reviews. Don't worry about me forgetting though, as most of the reviews are written, and those that aren't are sitting in my little black book of notes.

Work has been, well, frankly, work. Yeah, I've been going, I've been doing my thing, and then I've been going home. Nothing too exciting, yet nothing much to complain about. I guess that's about the best I can home for, because, after all, it's still a job. I really never will be able to handle this whole 40-hour-work-week thing.

Although it's still far from completion, I at least made decent strides toward getting the important and pertinent information up on the Tavern Tour site. So far the only page available there is the calendar page, which isn't even complete itself, but at least it has the dates, locations, addresses, and times listed. I'll get more completed as I find the time.

I'm trying to get at least part of the Tavern Tour website finished and posted so I can move everything related to that there. In the mean time, I have posted the upcoming schedule on the right below the contacts for the benefit of those who prefer to see a website instead of receiving email. Once I get the schedule posted on the TT website, I'll remove from the column on the right.

I went earlier tonight to Galvan's and "enjoyed" a bottle of Miller Lite. Nobody else joined me, so I only stuck around for an hour - long enough to drink the beer, scribble down some notes in a notebook, and snap a couple photos - much to the chagrine of the waitress. It's not like there was much to experience there... I mean, it is a family restaurant after all.

Don't mind me if my typing is poor, but I'm finally sobering up a little bit. Matt, Carrie, Trixie, Dave S., and Dave's brother all came out to Muldune's tonight for opening night of the tavern tour. I lost count at some point of exactly how many drinks I had had, which I'm told is sort of a good thing. I'l be typing up my review of the bar and the evening in the morning - or, more likely, the afternoon - as I don't think I can properly type it this evening. Even if the Tavern Tour website isn't up yet, I'll still be compiling the reviews in preparation for when it is. Trixie is also writing reviews, and I think we got a number of good photos tonight as well. At any rate, I should probably be hitting the sack, so nighty night.

It's here! It's finally here! The day we've all been waiting for is finally here! Today is June 1, the first day of Tavern Tour 2003. Tonight at 9pm at Muldune's on Appleton Street the party gets started. I'm hoping everybody and his brother is going to be there to get this summer-long shindig started off correctly. Yay!

We went off on a little pre-tour tour tonight. I felt like I fit right in with all the bachelorette parties out on the town, except they're committing to a lifetime of work, while I'm committing to a summer of drunken debauchery. I went out with Trixie and Nick tonight and we started out at Jekyll's. It was sort of my farewell party for Jekyll's, as I don't know if I'll get there again before September 22. It was packed as usual on a Saturday night, so we worked our way down the street. We stuck in our heads in Jim's and Ravens, but both were pretty lame, so we finally went down to Park Central. Yes, it was my first time in Park Central. I was surrounded by office assistants and machine operators cutting loose on their weekend to the sounds of the early nineties. I drank some shitty beer in The Amazon and cut a rug and did a shot of something or other with one of Trixie's friends for her birthday in Brooklyn's. At 2 the lights came up and they chased everybody out. We were going to go hit last call at Jekyll's, but we were too slow in moving down the street and didn't arrive until right as Ron was locking the door. Nick gave us a ride back to Trixie's before he went home, and then Trixie and I sat around watching infomercials and SNL. She was pretty out of it, and I started feeling a bit drowsy myself, so that's when I made my exit. Here I am, back home and pumped for tonight. I don't even work again until Wednesday, so I'm set and ready to go. Woohoo!