10/7/03 3:05 AM: Complicated.

Today I started my new column at Comicbookresources, The Comics Reel (I'll link it on this site one of these days, gotta open up an archive section for it). The idea of me doing a daily news thing seems a little goofy, but I'm sure I'll get a handle on it, and the compensation fits nicely into my evil plans. Ramping up for it is a challenge -- I'll need to spend money (argh) on a subscription to Variety Online and some other weird twitches, but I do like the idea of a higher profile.

I was also interviewed for MoviePoopShoot.com's Breakdowns column recently (another thing I'll need to copy into the site one of these days) by commentator Chris Allen. It's waaaaay at the bottom of the page, but it came out pretty well (with Chris snagging some of my favorite pictures from this site to spice it up). I did rant a lot longer about Black people in comics (that perennial favorite) than I wanted to, but whadda ya gonna do, you know?

Saturday night I auditioned to be a karaoke host for Magic Karaoke, a company that runs Liquid Kitty in West LA and Guys & Dolls way out in Mission Hills. I figgered since I'm out three or four nights a week singing karaoke, I may as well get paid for it. The audition went well -- the only complaint was my overusage of the word "y'all," but I got a tip and everybody said they enjoyed me as a host -- and in theory, when the new karaoke set (which comprises about twenty grand in equipment, counting CD players, specialized hard drives, et al) comes together in November, I'll get gigs and maybe even have my own karoake night somewhere. That's so insanely funny I get giddy thinking about it -- my own personal Apollo. Mwahahahahahaha!

I agreed to design two web sites for my elder brother, who lives in New York. Probably a horrible idea, but I couldn't turn down the money (I kept trying to scare him off with big numbers, and he didn't even blink). I'm getting the idea that web design contracts keep punching me in the face. If this one and the singer don't pan out (see a few paragraphs down for the skinny on that) I'm gonna hang it up on the freelance design side for good.

Which reminds me, I plan to compete in an upcoming karaoke contest run by Pete Gianelli's Hollywood Karaoke. No idea how I'll do, but what the hell. I have a sneaking feeling he doesn't like me. I don't know why, but since I can think of at least twenty legitimate reasons not to like me without even straining, I have no real desire to find out whether his is valid or not. I'll trust that it is and move on, as finding out it isn't a valid one would just make me angry.

Finishing up the karaoke stuff, I went to the aforementioned bar Liquid Kitty tonight to talk to the owner of Magic Karaoke. After my hellish Sunday (keep reading) I was barely awake, and almost left, when a really friendly advertising copywriter invited me to talk, chatting it up with her two male roommates ("come and knock on my door ..."). Turns out she grew up in the "good" part of Memphis and we had a bunch in common. She may have been hitting on me, but I was completely oblivious to it, as I'm pretty sure she's not my type. She was probably just being friendly. Anyhoo, some people I know from the Kotton Club's poetry night have started frequenting the Kitty after their slam at the Unurban Cafe down the road, and it was weird having people from different parts of my life mingling together, seeing me at my weirdest (singing the likes of "Alcohol" by Barenaked Ladies and bouncing around madly).

Either today or the 10th is my mom's birthday. I can't remember. She'll be fifty-one. Mmm.

I really wanna talk about my love life, which is ... interesting. However, my newfound desire to keep some things private trumps my mad rush to fill my website with every detail of my so-called life. So I won't. Sorry.

Everythings not all slices of pie and orgasms. My driver's side power window stopped working Sunday morning (argh), which adds to the $600 in car repairs I probably need anyway (ack). That really hit me when I tried to go to Popeye's drive-thru, and realized I'd have to open my door, so I just said "screw it," and came home. My toilet went nuts, refusing to flush, tonight, which means I'll have to yell at the building owners sooner than I'd hoped. I stupidly accepted a web design project for a very troublesome Gemini singer who's borderline driving me nuts, but that'll be done Wednesday. Then I go all the god-pounding way to the Grove, in the depth of that traffic hell around 3rd and Beverly, to buy a new remote for my iPod, only to be sold one that won't work with my machine, which I don't discover until after I open the damned thing and accrue the $4 restocking fee. I don't even know if I'll be able to find a remote to work with my iPod anymore, which is a complete beyotch.

I thought I was really smart, buying a TV to hook up to one of the VCRs I have lying around, so I can tape two network channels at the same time (i.e. Alias and Law & Order: Criminal Intent) without having to be here nor watch commercials. I then forgot to buy an antenna, which was a pain. On top of that, I cracked open the VCR to remember that the remote (and cables, oddly enough) for it went with the not-too-happy-with-me ex-wife, who's not easy to get a hold of, in any case. So I'm still working through that, probably hitting Radio Shack with a vengeance tomorrow.

Went to my niece Nia's fifth birthday party hella late on Sunday. The week prior was my other niece Nzingha's birthday party, but for some reason I wasn't invited to that. I suspect bad things I won't say there, and that kind of bugs me. I don't think that'll end well.

I've been randomly experiencing mood swings towards depression. Not pleased with that.

Had some parking excitement Sunday morning, when I came home to find my spot blocked up by a non-resident vehicle. Then I got woken up three times Sunday morning to straighten it all out, as a second non resident vehicle blocked in the other spot. A hundred bucks for a good lock would straighten it out. Rest assured, I have twenty pounds of whup-ass in a ten pound bag for the building's owners over that one.

Not writing as much as I want. The proposal for the book lies untended, as does at least six poems, as does the serial killer story I wanna send my DC contact, as does three or four proposals to publishers ... gah.

Right now I'm sleepy. I was in a bloggy mood, but now I wanna go to bed. So there I am, driving through the fog, searching out that which does not appear readily to the naked eye.