Staff Letters: Phil

...Come squeeze and suck the day, Come carpe diem, baby!...

Happy new year folks! Well, with the exception of the first and third week, I had a remarkably good December. The first week was mentioned in the December letter which I wrote after that, and the 3rd week I was on-call... and it was one of my worst on-call weeks yet. Ugh. But that's all besides the point. December was good to me. I think the best part of December was getting to return to my old stomping ground and hang out with friends who I've kept in touch with but haven't seen in at least a year -- some of them 2 or 3 years. Catch pictures here if you're particularly interested... but you don't know them, so I doubt you will be. Getting the old gang together was a whole lot of fun... I'm glad we're still all around and we still get along. Of course, strange things happen when you get us together... like people popping their ovaries, or the development of theories on soul stealing. Ahhh, good times. And, of course, there was Christmas. I got TiVo! TiVo is an amazing piece of technology, and I can't wait for my TiVo to get shipped here from Miami so I can hook it up! I also managed to get the Moulin Rouge DVD, 3 Steven Seagal DVDs, the Fade to Bluegrass CD, the new Offspring CD, and a handful of other small tidbits. I also purchased for myself, 3 DVDs for $20: Basic, Confidence, and Cradle of Life. On a more unusual note for this time of year, I did a lot of reading this month. 700 pages. I had, in early 2003 read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and made half way through Restaurant at the End of the Universe (the 2nd book in the series)... but then I started to prepare for my trip, then my ex-girlfriend took the book, etc., etc... and when I finally got around to reading (after re-aquiring it from the ex), it was September, and I picked it up where I left off and was completely lost. I'd forgotten most of what had happened. Skimming the previous 2 or 3 chapters didn't help, so I decided I would put the book aside until I had time to re-read the 300 or so pages I had previously read. Well, what better time for that, then a day of air plane rides? So I re-read the first book and a half, and continued through the third and fourth book, and have now started the fifth and final book in the series (I have them all in one volume). I can't recommend these books enough... although I'm a big fan of 80's absurdism. New Year's was spent watching Pirates of the Caribbean with my family and my best friend Josh, which ended just before midnight when we turned on FOX to watch Metallica perform. Just a few drinks and conversation and movies among friends and family. And of course, watching 5 or 6 counties' fireworks from the 21st floor condo my parents live in. I must say, 2003 treated me very, very well. I can only hope 2004 goes as well. I also want to say thanks to all my friends who have stuck by me, as always, this year, despite me being the one of the group who ran off 3000 miles across the country. I'm rather blessed to have such amazing friends. What else? My dad asked for Linux for christmas, which I thought was pretty cool. Spent about 15 minutes installing linux, and about 5 hours trying to move windows onto the new hard drive. Spent a few hours making the bizarre DSL modem my folks have working in Linux. Spent several more hours, fixing windows to be nice. All is good now, though. Saw a ton of movies this month too. Saw Something's Gotta Give, which all together, was a pretty good movie. But it was a TOTAL chick -flick, and it was an old-person chick-flick on top of that. And for God-sakes, did we need to see the old woman naked so many times? There was a hot young chick we never got to see any less dressed then bra and panties. Come on! Other than that, it was well done... Jack Nicholson, as always, puts on a hell of a performance. I also saw The Last Samurai, which is an AWESOME movie. Very, very awesome. Go see it. It made me want to move to rural Japan and become a Samurai. The other movies I saw are in the vibe list. Ever wonder if coincidences mean anything? I had a lot, and I do mean a lot, of coincidences this year worth doing a double-take over. I gather most were simply meaningless coincidences... but its an intriguing line of thought. More on this in later letters. 2003 was filled with wonderful adventures, gorgeous women, new opportunities, and, at least for me, a pretty bold new life which I'm still growing accustomed to. ::Raises glass:: here's to an even better 2004! Best of luck to each and every one of you. Take a chance, follow your heart. Sometimes it hurts, but more often it helps. On to the vibe list. I have December stuff, then 2003 summary stuff. And of course, what year would be complete with out Phil's Top Babes of 2003 list? =) Phil

GOOD USC won in the Rose Bowl Made it to 2004 Got an A in my class Got to see a lot of old friends All my old friends are doing well TiVo Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Linux (2.6 in particular) BAD A bad on-call week A few friends who didn't bother to call me back. QUOTES "I think I popped an ovary" MOVIES Return of the King Something's Gotta Give The Last Samurai Anger Management The In-laws Pirates of the Caribbean Basic Confidence Some movie I saw early in December but don't remember what it was... TOP 2003 EVENTS Summer Sanitarium 2003 New job, car, life, etc. Random event in October Getting to see so many of my old friends Gaining inner-clarity New friends St. Anger BOTTOM 2003 EVENTS Grandfather died Whole ex-girlfriend mess TOP BABES OF 2003 Jennifer Garner Ashley Williams Rachel

OLD LETTERS

December 03 Letter
November 03 Letter
October 03 Letter
September 03 Letter
June 03 Letter
May 03 Letter
April 03 Letter
March 03 Letter
February 03 Letter
January 03 Letter
December 02 Letter
November 02 Letter
October 02 Letter
September 02 Letter
August 02 Letter
July 02 Letter
June 02 Letter
May 02 Letter
April 02 Letter
March 02 Letter
February 02 Letter
January 02 Letter
December 01 Letter
November 01 Letter
October 01 Letter
September 01 Letter
August 01 Letter
July 01 Letter
May 01 Letter
April 01 Letter
March 01 Letter
February 01 Letter
January 01 Letter
December 00 Letter
November 00 Letter
October 00 Letter
July 00 Letter
June 00 Letter
May 00 Letter
April 00 Letter
March 00 Letter
February 00 Letter
January 00 Letter
December 99 Letter
November 99 Letter
October 99 Letter
September 99 Letter
August 99 Letter
July 99 Letter
June 99 Letter