What did I do this weekend. Well, first off I replace the front brakes on the ole ‘Woo. I had new rotors for her to, but the caliper mounting bracket bolts weren’t budging and considering I was on an incline, I felt it not wise to attempt to use too much force.
Also, I learned how important it is to ensure the jack you bought will fit under your car.
And also, I learned that the previous owners of the vehicle stole the lug nut wrench and the jack handle.
Which meant I had to use the only tool left, a screwdriver, to raise the car’s own jack. No, it wasn’t really fun.
I was actually disappointed the brake pads had as much left on them as they did. I was hoping my soft brakes were the cause of next-to-no pad left. I was wrong - but in a week or two I’ll tackle the rear brake pads and rotors - hopefully those are the ones causing the issue. The guy at Napa, in a super casual glance through a hole in the rim assured me that “Yeah, they’re shot”. So if you can’t trust that, who can you trust?

Then, on Sunday, I went through all of my computer parts and electronic packratting. I managed to go from 4 large plastic bins down to 2. I threw away a lot of things, some of which were:

• 17 computer power supplies (Out of 19, I kept the 2 AT ones for use as bench power supplies)
• 5 cell phones of varying age, the newest being about 5 years old
• 11 hard drives, with a combined storage total of 9GB!
• Batteries for a laptop I don’t have any more
• Batteries for several cameras I don’t have any more
• Easily 300 feet of coax cable alone - plus about 200 feet of misc cable
• A ginormous box of obsolete electronic devices from a local school district. A lot of Mac gear.
• 2 complete PCs, not anywhere near powerful enough to do anything of much use these days.

I also have something like 35 12 foot long brown extension cords.

All of this is part of my “One Project, One Trip” mentality. If I have a project to complete, I’ll buy the main parts of it and anything else I think I need but don’t know if I have.

So I think I’ll start making a home inventory system for the office. Keep all my cables tagged and organized. Same with the tools. And if I’m going to do that, I might as well make it web enabled, so I can query it from Home Depot and see that yes, I do have a 25 foot long S-Video cable. And if I’m going to do all that, I might as well throw my barcode scanner into it, so I can just scan things when I get them and know what they are right away.

Ain’t technology great?

I’ll have some pictures of the brake action later, but forgot to take some of the cable action. However, I will be taking timed pictures of the move out date, so I can make a neat little time-lapse movie about it.

Anyway - big move happens this Friday. And I think we’ll be ready.

Sometimes when I’m leaving feedback for stuff I bought on eBay, I make it a tad off the wall.

And as such, instead of making anyone else buy a scanned copy of the Daewoo Leganza service manual on CD like I did, I’m uploading it to my website and just letting whoever wants to download it.

So here you go, Daewoo Leganza owners!

Daewoo Leganza Service Manual volume 1

Daewoo Leganza Service Manual volume 2

After messing with trying to read it for awhile, I’m just going to spend the $19.99 (Originally $110, save 83%) and buy the service manuals straight from DaewooUS.Com.

Speaking of service, as soon as I posted I was going to keep the ‘Woo until she falls apart, the blower motor that controls the fan goes out. So I picked up one on ebay for $20, and after we move and I have a garage, I’ll go ahead and tear the ‘Woo apart and put it in.

When it rains, it pours.

Many years ago I used to own a Jeep Cherokee Sport. It was an older model, 1996, but I loved it very much. It had 170,000 miles on it and the windshield seal leaked because of the rust,  but it started every single time and ran strong then anything I had ever owned before.

Then, in March of 2005 my baby was stolen from me. I was shocked. Right after that I was pissed. Then right after that I went looking for a car.

My credit wasn’t all that hot at the time so I had to take what I could get. And the only thing I could manage to get was the 3rd largest exporter of automobiles from Korea.

Yes, I ended up with a 2001 Daewoo Leganza. This beauty right here:

At the time I hated it. It wasn’t my Jeep at all. It was the only car Denny Hecker showed me, and since I was simply dropped off at the dealership by a friend I really had no choice.

Well, now the ordeal is almost finally over - it’s just about paid off. I paid to much, and it took to long, but when you’re in the desert, it doesn’t really matter what the glass of waters costs, you pay it, right?

So for the past 6 months or so, I’ve been mulling over, dreaming of, a new car to get when this thing is paid off. Bouncing around from automaker to automaker, model to model, I had finally set my sites on the perfect vehicle for me. A Mazda CX-7. Look how gorgeous it is:

Of course, mine would be painted black, with tinted glass and powder coated color-matched rims, but still - it’s a quite aggressive looking beast. And with a turbo-charged 4 cylinder, it’s 22MPG isn’t half bad.

So I was getting quite psyched for it. Then I realized something.

I hardly ever drive my ‘Woo as it is. And not having a several hundred dollar a month car payment would be quite a nice thing to get used to.

So I’ve switched gears and am now psyched to work on my car and get it in tip-top shape. It needs new brake pads and rotors all around, so I picked em up and when we start moving in a month I’ll use the new garage to get that done - I’d do it here, but I’m not sure how the rotors come off - it’ll either be a simple wheel off and then bam, rotor off; or it will be an hour long ordeal which requires me taking the hub assembly apart.

And if I do that, I might as well replace and/or repack the wheel bearings, since I’ll be there anyway.
Then when that’s all done, I’ll give it a general tuneup - new spark plugs, wires, figure out why the pesky check engine light comes on - probably a flaky O2 sensor caused by crappy SA gas, since the only time it comes on is when I get my gas from there.

Then, I’ll do something I should have done years ago, ditch my beloved Belkin iPod tape deck adapter and get myself a proper receiver and some new speakers to go with it.

And that would be about it - then I just drive it until it falls apart. And considering I was due an oil change over a month ago, but haven’t done it yet since I’m still about a 1000 miles short of 77,000, that will be quite some time. At least long enough to save up for a big down payment

So today, along with washing the dishes, vacuuming and other housework I also did some housework on my site. First off, I’ve decided to move all the IT & geek related stuff off of the personal blog, and will slowing be finishing my setup of DotNetNuke over at Pavleck.Net.

Secondly, I updated Wordpress to it’s newest version, got all the little extras working and you may now notice my little phoenix up by the URL - yes, I finally added a FavIcon.ico. After looking around for various way I found the absolute easiest way to do it - check it out. Couldn’t be simpler.

I’ve also installed an OpenID plugin, so from now on when you click to make a comment, you can throw your OpenID URL in the website section and bam, that’s all there is to it.

Don’t happen to have an OpenID? You might be surprised - if you have an account with Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, or one of these other guys you might actually have one¹. Still don’t have on? I use MyOpenID.com, and it’s worked great - highly recommended.²

And lastly on the website update - I’ve been toying with removing my TwitterFeed for my website from my normal twitter feed, and as such I’ve created a new one - Pavleckcom - where all my website updates go to. Feel free to subscribe - if enough people switch over to it, I’ll go ahead and get rid of the updates from the primary feed.

I never thought of myself as being “well-read”. I doubt I’ve read 3% of the titles listed in “1001 Books to Read before you die“. I read what interests me. In my youth, that was a lot of Orwell, Asimov and London³. These days it’s a wide variety of authors and topics, as I noticed when I was cleaning up the bedroom a bit - see for yourself.

As you can see, at the top there is a bunch of Bukowski - my newest favorite author and the fault of Mishka’s father⁴. He gave me “Run with the Hunted” for Christmas and it stoked the literary fire within me. I’ve already read Post Office, am currently reading Women (Not pictured, cause I’m carrying it around with me) and Factotum is next.
After that, you see one of Chomsky’s newest books, “Failed States” - so there’s some politics.
Continuing onward, there is Man Ray’s Montparnasse. Man Ray is my favorite photographer, and his book Montparnasse explores his life with stories and anecdotes about his friends and lovers in Pre-WW2 Montparnasse, France - just when the Dada & Surrealism movements were taking hold. Excellent book, if you can find it pick it up.
And then there’s another pseudo-political book, Stephen Colbert’s “I am America (And So Can You)”. Not much to say about it. It’s a very interesting read, but isn’t meant to be a heavy hitter. I don’t think I’ve actually finished it yet, even.
And finally there’s “Naked Economics“. It’s subtitle is “Undressing the Dismal Science” and it does it well. It lays out the principles of economics in an entertaining and easy to follow way. After reading it I’ve got a much better understanding of why we pay what we pay and how the world in general works. If you have to read one econ book, then this is the one for you!
Not pictured, because they’re on the floor: Spook Country by William Gibson, My 230th copy of Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson and several electronic and microcontroller books)

And awesome news that I just learned about less then 2 hours ago - one of my photographs sold!
I knew some would sell, but had no idea that this one was going to sell. It was my experimental photograph, “On” seen below. It was printed up at MPIX.com, and since I was there I let them do the matting and framing too. The frame is nothing special, just a basic kit frame with tensioners holding the photo in - there isn’t even any glass to speak of. This was an experiment, not expected to sell. Yet it was the first one. I’m sort of stoked about it, and sort of curious - I always wonder where my photographs go, and how they end up being shown. It’s like a part of me is now with someone else.

And that’s it for today’s update!

1. You really should think about getting one, especially if you use FireFox - FireFox 3 brings strong support for OpenID [↩]
2. If you don’t even know what OpenID is - Wikipedia can help you there [↩]
3. Jack London, that is [↩]
4. Her father taught a class about Bukowski and the other beat poets. [↩]

Digging through an older hard drive, I found a play I had written awhile ago. It was meant to be in the Fringe Fest, but things didn’t work out. So for you, gentle reader, I’ll post some of it here. I actually think it’s fairly good for a first attempt, no? Forgive the formatting, it isn’t very easy to format a play inside of a blog post, but I’ve done my best. Perhaps I’ll post more, if it is received well. Oh, and Queen Achtland is from an Irish Myth.

Dating Achtland

A play by Jeremy D. Pavleck

Cast of Characters

Achtland - An urban harried mid/late 30s divorced mother. Intelligent and stressed.
Felicis - The ‘manic’ personification of Achtland, as seen by Dante
Tristis - The ‘depressive’ personification of Achtland, as seen by Dante
Dante - a 28 year old man, intelligent but scared of what 30 will bring
Animus - The mind, or analytical side, of Dante
Pectus - The heart, or emotional side, of Dante

The play takes place over several months in various suggested settings of Minneapolis and St. Paul

SCENE 1

At RISE:
(A coffee shop somewhere in St. Paul. Early evening. Light shines
through dirty windows. Local art for sale hangs on the wall.
Hipsters man the counter, one hand grinding coffee - the smell permeates.
DANTE is sitting in the corner opposite the door, a large glass of
coffee in front of him. He fiddles with a camera he has brought,
attempting to make it look as though he isn’t waiting for someone)

DANTE:
(Sighs loudly. Beat)

(Lights dim, Animus enters left, spot on. He approaches center with an
aggitated gait. He runs his fingers through his hair and paces a moment
before facing the audience)

ANIMUS:
(Spitefully)

Ah! And there we begin. Look at me. Sitting there pretending to pay attention to that camera.
I’ve been here forty-five minutes already, my own damn fault for leaving so early. I was so
broke, I had to cash in my change to buy this flower for her. Hell if I would of known then
what I know now I’d –

PECTUS (Off):

You’d what?

ANIMUS:

I would have stormed out of there and saved myself a lot of frustration!

(Pectus saunters in right and stands before Animus)
PECTUS:
(Calmly, soothingly)

You would have done no such thing. I wouldn’t have allowed it to happen.

ANIMUS:
(Hotly)

And who the fuck do you think you are, that you can tell us with such certainty that we wouldn’t leave.
You were the one most affected by this whole thing, and yet here you are, saying you would do it again!

PECTUS:

Indeed, I was. And indeed, we would. My friend, as intelligent as you are, some lessons are better learned
by actually doing, as opposed to actually reading about it. In time, you’ll see it my way.

ANIMUS:

That’s such utter bullshit!

(Produces a notepad, flips through several pages)

Just listen to these grievances! I’ve written each one down in detail, and you would be a fool to continue on
after but a third of this list has been read!
First and foremost, she –

PECTUS:
(Holds up his hand palm out towards Animus, Chuckling)

Ah, mon ami, you know as well as I do that I don’t listen to such things

(Pectus Off. Animus off. Lights rise as Dante sets the camera down
and begins to drum his fingers habitually against the table)

ANIMUS: (Off)

There is still time, let’s end this before it starts!

PECTUS: (Off)
(Reassuringly)

Hush, old friend. It’s time you let me take over. Here

(SFX: Rustling bag)

take this.

ANIMUS: (Off)

Oh! A rubik’s cube! I can handle this no problem!

(Dante stops drumming his hand against the table. He straightens up in his chair,
and a look of quiet confidence comes over him)

Oi, time flies when you’re having fun, right? I tried to have the Friday Link-O-Rama, but some days are busier then others and, well, it doesn’t get done. I wish I could maintain the same butter like consistency JACC has with his Friday Random Ten. Some day, Jeremy. Some day.

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I was supposed to be shooting BarCamp Minnesota tomorrow, but alas it seems like it won’t happen - I was informed of a prior engagement. And I tried to setup Joomla on my tech site, but that failed me too.

Anyway, I’ll be writing up a little something for you crazy cats tomorrow or later this evening, depends on when I get some work related things out of the way. And I have something that I hope ends up kind of cool, another time-lapse attempt, but this time with more cowbell.

But have a few drinks for me, k?

Guilty of being a romantic. No, not the flowers kind, the other. The one that’s defined as “a soulful or amorous idealist”.

I read books with characters I can relate to, ones I associate with. Bean from Ender’s Shadow, with his high intelligence and deplorable life. Shadow with his quiet intelligence and cool, calm demeanor. Hiro Protagonist from Snow Crash, with his weird ability to be in the right place at the right time - always “this close” to being the next big thing, yet somehow messing it up. And my newest love, Bukowski’s hard-drinking, fighting, womanizing alter-ego of Henry Chinaski.

I read those stories, and romanticize them. I can feel what they are going through - I know what they feel. I was them. I am them? I know of a life of hard times - living in my car, in a dumpster behind a carpet factory. I know the thrill of being rick on paper, then squandering it all away due to lack of foresight.

I know what it’s like to live hard. My father died when I was 6 weeks, raised by a bipolar mother who refuses to get help or acknowledge her problems. I know what it’s like to have to beg for $20 to be able to buy antibiotics for a double pneumonia from not taking care of yourself. I know what a soaring high, were you feel in control of everything. And crushing lows, where the only sensible way out if a bullet between the eyes.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last weekend JACC came to visit us during the Art Crawl. By a weird coincidence I was just coming out of the loft as he and his crew were emerging from the elevator - which was a good thing as he thought we lived in a totally different unit then we did and, well, he wouldn’t have seen me.

They stopped, chatted for a bit, drank a Shiner, then asked me 3 questions. Watch the whole awkward thing below - I look goofy, my hair is unkempt and the chair I sat in made my jacket ride up but, meh, it is what it is¹

Secondly, I hung my stuff up at the Black Dog Coffee and Wine Bar in downtown St. Paul. The official opening for the show, Limitless Energy, begins on May 2nd - but feel free to stop in anyway. I submitted 3 pieces, and I think 2 of them have already sold. After the luke warm art crawl reception, I was nervous hanging them - but people absolutely loved them and, to be honest, they look quite sharp hanging where we put them.

I was most worried about “On”, which is a fairly experimental piece for me. I was worried that the composition was off, that there wasn’t enough happening on one side.  All 3 are below, “On” is the all dark light switch. Hanging in the neutral white of the hallway here it looked out of place, but on the large orange wall of the Black Dog it seems to ‘pop’ and looks pretty good. The biggest worry about the thing was the size. It needs to be a certain size, too big or too small and it would look off. I took a gamble, and went for 20″x30″. Didn’t work so well at the Art Crawl, works well here. Not so sure it will sell, but if it does I’d be happy!

1. Visit Side Note: Mishka came home from work exhausted, and immediately donned her robe. I rudely walked JACC and his whole crew in anyway, making her scurry to the bedroom to change. I’m an ass. [↩]

Well another Story Slam goes off without a hitch. And they are seriously getting better and better with every iteration. The audience is larger and louder, the orators are more confident and the lines get delivered at the right time. It was absolutely great! This was seriously the best one to date, and gets me salivating when I think about when the next one will be. Talked to some of the regulars, met some amazing new Slammers and possibly made a connection that could get me into an underground I’ve been trying to get into for years - as a photographer of course.

If you aren’t coming to this thing, what in the hell is wrong with you? It’s awesome! I better see you at the next one; eat, drink, laugh, cry and have your fill of some of the best¹ slammers the TC has to offer!

And speaking of art and what not - starting Friday and going on all weekend it’s the St. Paul Art Crawl!! Hundreds of artists located throughout lowertown St. Paul will be swinging open their doors and letting you in to peek at their wares - and liberate you of any extra Franklins you might be carrying around. So go ahead and print out the map and start marking off where you’d like to go. And if you plan on stopping by the Rossmor building², be sure to let me know. We can have a few beers and play Super Smash Brothers on the Wii. I might throw out a few things this time, but it’s doubtful - both my neighbors are photographers and both of them are also exhibiting. Too many cooks and all that jazz. Besides, my website isn’t fully done yet and I’m busy getting right for a gallery exhibition I have all next month at the Black Dog.

Hoping to see you there! (Or here, even)

1. And, yes, some of the not-so-best [↩]
2. Link doesn’t go to the real website, because for some reason it isn’t coming up for me. WTF? [↩]