Predictably, I slept in this morning. Immediately upon getting out of bed at around 0930, on an impluse, I experimented with some impromptu adjustments to the collective's map code, which had nothing to do with the planned "Phase 2 Enhancements", but I liked them so much that I'm going to include them anyway. Depending on how things go, I'll likely be ready to commit and ship Phase 2 either late tonight or tomorrow.

Feeling invigorated from the early morning dip in the code, I took a shower, and went to the McDonald's drivethru for brunch. (I would have ordered a breakfast meal, but alas, they had stopped serving breakfast before I arrived.) On the way, a rare coincidence occurred. As I was driving down Wadsworth, out of the blue, I saw my dad driving his car right in front of me. I pulled up in the lane next to him, finally got his attention, and waved. He waved back before our paths diverged into never never land. (He is the one person in the family whose new place I have not yet seen. I am mighty curious, since bouncing has described his interior decorating style as a European-esque "moderne" design. Have I ever mentioned that I have a strange family?)

After McDonald's I went to Wal Mart, with the specific idea that I would procure a table whose short term use would be for festing accommodations. As for long term use... well, you can always use a table for something. :)

I located a most excellent collapsable folding table, which should easily accomodate 2 festers with ample room. While I was there, I decided to restock my frozen pizza supply, since the were selling them nice and cheap. I decided to go ahead and procure some other groceries, since the lair's food supply has been quite depleted lately. In the long run, this should save money because there will be less episodes of "I'm hungry, and there's nothing here to eat, so let's make a quick run to $RESTAURANT_CHAIN for nourishment.")

I had an incredibly slow wait through the Wal Mart line. The person in front of me had every conceivable delay in checking out. She wanted to put some items on one bill and some on another. A unknown price on one item needed to be called in, looked up, and eventually, when that didn't work, the clerk had to take a foot trip to the shoe department to find the correct price. Then, to top it off, the credit card she tried to use was declined! On the positive side, the nice elderly man behind me struck up a conversation about Wal Mart's foray into the grocery business (evidenced by the food in both of our carts).

Once the Wal Mart visit was completed, I couldn't resist the opportunity to trek across the parking lot for a stop at Best Buy to procure The Matrix Revisited. I contemplated the idea of declaring a moratorium on the purchase of new DVDs. After buying this one, of course. Pwahaha.

Once I was in the store, on the way to finding The Matrix Revisited, another temptation beckoned. U2 Elevation Tour, live from Boston. 2 disc set, with Dolby 5.1 and PCM 2 channel tracks, some multi-angle stuff (which I got a taste of on a few songs from the Sarah McLachlan disc -- too much fun, although my dvd player has a lag when switching angles), plus a bunch of special features. Obviously, I succumbed.

2 DVDs purchased at the checkout line, and as I've noticed they sometimes do on new releases, Best Buy had one of their unmarked, unannounced, impromptu discounts for the U2 disc. The price tag indicated $24.95. The register rang up $17.99. For a 2 disc concert DVD set. Wow.

At this rate, as the prices of cds climb to astronomical highs, and DVDs keep getting discounted more and more, I'm half wondering how long it will be until the 1 hour music-only release costs more than the 6 hour video with 5.1 audio plus extra features addded on. Such is the way of things.

On the way home, in the wake of this indulgenct behavior, I contemplated the idea that I am now a fully, fervently practicing member of the state religion that is Consumerism. I am often aware of the flaws in the institution, and take exception to some of its more blatent insanities. But this does not make me any less of an adherer. It simply puts me in the sub-Sect (some might call it a "demographic") of corporation-hating, Fight Club-buying, Matrix-watching, Marilyn Manson-listening, South Park-viewing, Slashdot-reading disparagers of The System in which we live. This irony is not a new discovery, but I still ponder it every now and then.

Upon arrival home, after I put my groceries away, I did not delay in inserting the disc straight into the DVD player to watch the exhaustive megadocumentary on the making of one of the great films of our time. Once again, I left in awe at such an achievement. I think I said something along these linse after watching the Episode 1 documentaries, but I'll say it again about this. It is astounding to consider the effort and time which so many people spent in an effort to produce the best 2 hours of entertainment possible. It's just incredible.

Watching the segment about the fans of the movie, I felt slightly less insane knowing that I wasn't the only one who could watch such a film and be so incredibly inspired by it that I would jumpstart the course of my life in a new direction.

After that, I unpacked the table, and began to plan arrangements for the upcoming Feast Fest. Since this will be the first fest I will actually host in a residence that is solely mine, I am perhaps a bit overly excited about it. (But then again, being overly excited is really part of the festing spirit.) I want to do everything right. I was inspired by the outstanding (ph|f)est hosting of Yanthor and Anya, and want to live up to the standard of excellence they set (even though neither of them will be attending this fest). And maybe, just maybe, it's also a bit of an ego trip. ;)

I am the Fest Mastah! Ha ha ha!

Alrighty, this rambling has gone on longer than I planned, and I want to get back to some coding. The itch is in me. Now it's time to scratch it.