Considering some of the plots to hurt this person that I've dreamed up, I don't think I did. I think I was downright benevolent. But it's a little scary to realize that vicious potential.

In the left column of this page, you'll see an extensive list of weblog links. Don't get me wrong, I stop by every one of these pages at least weekly. But they're not all daily reads. There are a few weblogs that I absolutely must check daily or I feel like I'm missing something, and there are weblogs where I stop by every few days to catch up.

And then there are the weblogs that I check several times daily, almost obsessively. These obsessions don't usually last very long, maybe a week or two at a time, but for the duration, I'll check them every time I go online. Which is a lot. Lately, Kate's Tawdry has been a minor obsession. She's fierce. I've also been really into Phonezilla lately. I think Paul has been updating more than usual. I can see myself slowly getting really into the Bombast-xxx weblog (no, it's not porn). I'm recovering from a Catherine's pita obsession. I have also been known to engage in obsessions with Kerplink, Vain, Selfish, & Lazy (especially back when it was Steal this Blog!), us|against|them, and the late, great Indieshite.

Wow, I feel so...so...so...incestuous now. I'm going to go take a cold shower, I think.

Inspired by Bob's list of movies he watched in 1999, I'm going to keep a list of books I read in 2001. In addition, I'm going to write reviews of all the books I read and put them on Amazon.com. I may attempt some sort of ranking similar to Bob's, but I'm notoriously bad at things like that, so I doubt it will happen. I've already started posting reviews on Amazon, and I'll probably link to new ones as I post them.

My other project: an indie weblog ring. The main page is already up, albeit in crappy form. Once I get the chance, I'll improve it. Go ahead and join the queue--I'll email you with ring code information after the first of the year. And if you'd like to create some ring graphics--that would be swell. Just email them to me. This should be a fun project, uniting all the various indieblogs out there.

Anyhow, taking the Keirsey test reminded me of the Keirsey Profiles of Online Journallers list, and I thought...hmm...it would be kind of cool to have one of those for webloggers. So I think I'm going to set one up. Of course, it won't be running until after the first of the year, because I've got tons of stuff to do before then, and because I'm taking off to Louisville to visit Brian in another week and I'm not going to want to start it before then. Here's what you'll need to do:

1. Take the Keirsey test. You can take it at this site.

2. Email me your name, your test results, the URL to your weblog, and the name of your weblog.

3. Wait around for me to put up the list. Then link to the list. I'll make some graphics that you can use, or you can take the "simple text link" route.

4. Wait for some big, popular weblog to link to the page, and hopefully enjoy an increase in hits. Or not.

He has two cavities. Heh. I can make fun of him because I have never ever had a cavity in my life.

I should call my former workplace. I bought candy from one of my co-workers--one of her kids is in the band, and they were having a fund-raiser--and it's in. I need to pick it up from her. Two previous attempts to pick up the candy were unsuccessful, and I'd really like to get it this week. I'm just a little...squeamish...about calling my former workplace. I don't like using the phone to begin with, but to call my former workplace? Nuh-uh. I tried emailing her but I haven't heard back yet, so I think I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and call. Not fun.

Paul made me laugh with this. And hey--go rate him at Bloghop, why don't you? He deserves more than the measly 69% approval rating he's got going over there. And ladies...he's available.

From Bob, I found out that Kirsty MacColl died in a boating accident today. Very sad. I've already told Matty, who already knew, and he was quite saddened. My Kirsty MacColl memory: being driven to the place where I was staying from a Halloween party last October, drunk and listening to "My Affair". Oh, and I was dressed like a ghost. A fancy ghost.

I'm going to go to the bank now and cash some of these money orders I've got sitting around here.

I went into the kitchen to throw my empty pop (soda) can in the recycle bin. I turned the light on, and it looked at me. It looked at me and then it ran under the stove.

I promptly got some more mint oil and refortified the premises. Damn rodent.

Did you know that mouse pee glows under a blacklight? Now you do.

And I am up way too goddamn late. And there's a new journal entry.

We had a huge family-style all-you-can-eat lunch at Maggiano's. I gorged myself on mozzarella marinara, fettucine alfredo, Caesar salad, and cheesecake. Yum. Then we drove home in the snow. It took us two and a half hours to make the 35-minute drive.

Since I was in the shopping spirit, I decided to do some eBaying and take care of a few presents. Amanda will receive this charming knick-knack, and Brian will receive this and this. So now my shopping is pretty much done.

I'm going Christmas shopping with my family tomorrow. Actually, it's probably going to turn into "my family buys me Christmas presents," but I'm not one to complain about that.

Speaking of Christmas shopping, I've bid on a Christmas gift for Amanda on eBay. I found the gift through Who Would Buy That?, a blog of "auction oddities." (Thanks Matt for linking to that.) Since the auction's about to end, I can now link to the site. I'm sure Amanda will know what I'm getting her once she sees the picture. It freakin' screams her name. Heh. Also from Who Would Buy That?: I didn't know there was a book about the sex lives of some of my exes. Animals without backbones, indeed!

I've also bid on a nice gift for Brian on eBay. It's just a little something small. And I plan to get this for him too. He's too easy to buy stuff for.

Transmission3000: you didn't play up the hilarity of Diamond Dave as a dad...

Transmission3000: i mean...he would replace Danson.

Transmission3000: it would be Selleck, Gutenburg...and Diamond Dave!

Tom wanted some of the Best Matt Scroggins quips of 2000. Well, since I haven't been recording his quips as obsessively as I used to, it's going to have to be an all-time list:

1."I enjoy rational discourse."

He said this at some point when we were in college. Actually, I wasn't the person who overheard it. Robin overheard it. I guess Matty was standing outside the cafeteria talking to someone, and Robin heard him say "I enjoy rational discourse," and she thought it was funny, so she came back to the dorm and told me about it. At one point, she was even going to start a zine called Rational Discourse, but she never got further than the cover, as far as I know.

2. "I wouldn't pay $1000 for that. The buttwiping is a private enterprise."

I don't remember the situation, but I recorded the statement. I believe that it truly speaks for itself.

3. "See this? This is disdain."

Amanda and I were doing something silly (as usual) and Matty wanted none of it. So he gave us a disdainful look, and then pointed at his face, and said, "See this? This is disdain." And Amanda made fun of him for ages about it.

4. "Monsignor Food."

Colin and Matty and I were sleeping on Colin's floor. Colin said something about a TV show he had seen that day that featured a "Mr. Food." So we went and tried to add titles to the word "Food." I think "Monsignor Food" was probably the best, and, as usual, it was Matty's.

5. "I ate some Taco Not-So-Fresco."

This was in reference to some digestive discomforts suffered after a lunch of Taco Fresco.

6. "T-shirt irony is dead."

Quite possibly my favorite Matty statement ever. It inspired the Official Amplified to Rock t-shirts.

Tom also wanted to know about the best pie (Lincoln Carry-Outs, Calumet City, IL--shady neighborhood, awesome pie), the best ice cream (Black Cherry from Oberweis Dairy), and my best thrift store find (an acrylic glittery box-purse that I found back in high school and lent to a friend...thus losing it forever).

Nathan wants my list of ten movies that would be better if David Lee Roth had starred in them. Here goes:

1. Boogie Nights - In the Dirk Diggler role, of course. Diamond Dave's assless spandex pants could be a major plot point.

2. The Empire Strikes Back - Just as some sort of incidental character, like a glamorous spaceship pilot with beautiful rock hair.

3. Fight Club - Come on, he's better than Brad Pitt. Besides, wasn't Meat Loaf in Fight Club?

4. Gone with the Wind - As Rhett Butler. Swoon.

5. Titanic - The power of rock would have kept that ship from sinking.

6. Any of those late-night Skinemax soft-core porn movies - They're already funny. Adding David Lee Roth would make them even funnier.

7. The Matrix - He could wear assless leather pants.

8. Disorderlies - The Fat Boys + David Lee Roth = Genius.

9. The English Patient - Nothing improves a romantic drama more than a balding 80s icon.

10. Three Men and a Baby - David Lee Roth as one of the dads. This was Brian's idea.