• 09:50 12seconds - halloween costume: scary tiny12.tv/D60US #
• 10:11 why has no one made a trailer mashup of Freddy vs. Gorden Gecko? "Nightmare on Wall Street" (This joke is 3 weeks late.) #
• 15:31 glad my house is so remote there's no trick or treaters. I'm choco-jonesin' & would eat an entire bowl of Hersey's Miniatures if we had 'em. #

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• 09:22 70 years ago today, parts of the U.S. were in a panic. not by an election, but by RADIO. we're too cynical for Orson Welles today. http: ... #
• 15:36 suddenly depressed Robert Palmer is dead. I'd like to see mulitple, pale models pretending to play musical instruments right now. #

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• 11:46 I go on the radio at 12:30, and have no idea what I'm going to be talking about. That actually makes it a lot more interesting. #
• 20:35 I picked the pie-maker over the presidential candidate. It's not like an infomercial is going to change my vote. #

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• 10:29 the curse of the punctual: the electronic lady frequently says, "you are the only person in the meeting now." #
• 13:50 Premium Mint M&Ms are indeed tasty, but how do they have the gall to call themselves M&Ms when there's no crunchy candy shell? Mars's folly. #
• 14:33 Oh. Hello, snow. My old nemesis. Back for more, eh? Well, you may be my Lex Luthor, but you're not my Kryptonite. I will VANQUISH you AGAIN! #

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• 13:17 rock star moments are all in what you do after. like get a drink. www.dontforgettovalidateyourparking.com/Strips/042.html #
• 13:21 just got 9 Megabytes of unsolicitied attachments from a PR person. Srsly? Is there not a flak school that suggests, I dunno, maybe...LINKS? #
• 15:14 we should be so lucky tinyurl.com/6c2xvq #
• 15:19 PCMag and other NYC peeps: I'll be in the city Nov 10-12. Wanna do lunch? I promise to never use the word peeps again. Except @ Easter. #

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• 14:47 twitter.grader.com/ ranks my tweets as 58 out of 100. fair enough. Most used word in my twitterings? "MY" --cuz it's all about ME. #
• 14:55 the world needs an agreed upon measurement for mayo on a deli sandwich. cuz when I ask for extra mayo, I expect to actually TASTE SOME MAYO. #

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It was already a weird week for my family. But last night, my mom called and gave me news that puts everything on its ear.

Mat, my first cousin once removed -- my cousin's oldest kid -- died earlier this week. He was 23-years-old. [[Updated to include link to obituary in the Evening Tribune.]]

I can't say I knew Mat well, or what reasons would drive him to this. Any guesses on my part would be just that, and wasted effort.

I do know my cousin, his mother, however. We grew up together. She's among the most awesome people I've ever known. I can't for the life of me think how I or anyone could help her, her husband, and her younger son -- Mat's borther -- with this.

All I can do is show up when needed, and that's what I'll do.

For anyone who stumbles upon this and has thoughts toward suicide, please know this: if you've got a family as big as mine, there's always someone to turn to. Even if you don't, there are people to call who will help, like 1-800-273-TALK.

There are always alternatives.

• 09:42 I've been meaning to look up the pro-nun-skee-a-shun of synecdoche, & there it is, today's Dictionary.com word of the day: \si-NEK-duh-kee\ #
• 12:35 ping.fm is back, so the world is safe again for those of us who prefer to spam social networks without really working at it. #

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• 08:17 frost augurs the time of year when scooping dog poo from the yard will be like carving frozen cavemen out of pre-global warming glaciers. #
• 09:47 got a twitch in a muscle in my right thigh. I believe this substitutes for a complete lower-body workout. #
• 09:55 picture it: Nokia N810 handheld 'puter running Google Reader... in the bathroom. It's the modern day Reader's Digest. #

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• 12:00 prepping mentally for my local writers critique group, in which chap 4 of my WIP will be eviscerated. i'm looking forward to it, actually. #

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• 09:30 Barack Steve Obama still gets my vote, but hide the kryptonite. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7675927.stm #
• 14:33 i'm so easily distracted today I might as well have a mask and a ringed tail and be surrounded by empty tin pie plates in the sun. #
• 15:37 just as my followers equal my followees, I find more co-workers tweeting. As long as they don't talk about the damn waffle truck. #
• 15:38 in other news: craving waffles. And calamari, for some reason... #

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• 15:01 Windows XP doesn't count in the numbers going up to Windows 7? wtf. ping.fm/mhfiV #

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• 00:01 I can already sense tomorrow will be a heavy tweeting day for me, because I have actual work to do. Oooo, shiny! #
• 10:23 glad no one jumped out of a window on Wall Street last week. their ghosts would feel pretty stupid. #
• 13:49 instead of listening to Mac nonsense, I just washed my mailbox. That's the sign of a dedicated home owner. And cat-waxer. #

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• 11:56 yesterday was 1st Internet free day (almost... 95%, at least) in in weeks. It was GOD DAMN GLORIOUS. At least, the Internet-free aspect was. #

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Rick Roll for four-year olds.

• 15:33 A visit from the IT guy tinyurl.com/4z44u9 #
• 21:47 whenever I see McCain pump his fist, as he loves to do, I figure he's trying to jerk off America. #
• 21:49 Obama mentions computers. McCain will soon be sputtering in confusion as to what he's talking about. Good thing he invented the Blackberry. #
• 21:50 "McCain talks a lot about drilling" -- especially since he picked Palin as running mate. #

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• 18:41 so that's why people like Dinty Moore. Me, I grew up on SpaghettiO's. And Hawaiian Punch. Straight outta the CAN. #

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• 11:56 "just swing your dumb sack, and try to hit some smart." -- Donnie of "You Suck at Photoshop" #

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You may think Life on Mars just a new show about a cop who may (or may not) be traveling through time coming to ABC this Thursday. And, yeah, it is. But it's based on something else: the original BBC version -- that's right, from them Brits -- is fan-frackin'-tastic. And probably (not guaranteed, but probably) head-and-shoulders better than the remake. We'll see. And you can too. BBC America will be running a marathon of BBC's Life on Mars tomorrow (Sunday, Oct. 5) beginning at 1 pm eastern. TiVo them all. Enjoy the wide ties.

• 08:33 heading into day 2 of head cold/flu/consumption suffering. realizing, once again, milk ingestion=more phlegm. #
• 18:13 so tired. but can't nap. so behind, can't catchup. so hungry, can't eat (food makes me sick). Perfect day for a VP debate. #
• 19:07 i would give just about anything for the ghost of Admiral Stockdale to show up for the debate tonight. ping.fm/fG9gj #
• 21:50 Stockdale would kick both their asses just putting his glasses on... #
• 22:05 US has stomach for success? Me too! I made it with M&Ms. #
• 22:07 cravin' that straight talk... like how she was for that bridge until she was against it. such an "outsider." #
• 22:16 how many winks is that? 4? 5? is she hitting on America's stomach for success? #
• 22:18 'John McCain has already tapped me' is, I hope, a quote used out of context for days to come. #
• 22:19 Will Biden get to keep the man-sized safe in Cheney's office? #
• 22:21 BOOM! take that Cheney! Biden callin' you out! (I'm sure cheney would eat Joe's heart, but still.) #
• 22:23 Just realized I'm like 2 minutes behind watching this debate on the Tivo. No spoilers! #
• 22:24 biden says he won't change. So plagarism for everyone! #
• 22:29 one upside to Palin... we'd be back to having a Quayle-esque or Gore-ish VP that does nothing but go to funerals. #
• 22:37 yes, yes, leave Palin's mic on for the next 20 minutes, that would be great. #

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