Guess who's back. Back again. It has been exactly 15 years since I last blogged on SideshoViD.com. I've been thinking about starting it up for a while now but decided to wait for this anniversary, because ... well, no real reason.

For the past 15 years, I've had some sort of "closed" message on the home page saying that what killed my blog was the rise (and subsequent fall) of social media. Blogs weren't in vogue and I wanted to be sharing on whatever social media platform du jour would get me the most likes and comments. It was fun! But now, social media has become a cesspool boomer misinformation highway. It's caustic and I really want no part of it anymore. But I was finding myself missing over sharing the minutia of my day. Hence, the rebirth of the blog.

While it is the same SideshoViD.com you always loved, there are a few key differences. First, I migrated to a WordPress CMS. I had been paying like $30/mo for decades to Earthlink just to host these few HTML files. I've learned a LOT about that kind of stuff since then and realized that was dumb and I could just be hosting it myself for like $3 instead. I was just going to copy and paste the files to a new server, but I also had ambitions of making a coffee table book out of all of my entries. You can do that with a database like WordPress, but not with the antiquated GreyMatter system I had installed in the early 2000s. It was also so old that there was no such thing as a migration path. So, I did what any reasonable person would do and started cutting and pasting one entry at a time, one comment at a time, adjusting the time stamp. It took about 3 years of inconsistent effort, but then it was done. I shut down Earthlink and reaped the savings.

Then I decided I wanted to shut down all of my social media accounts, but that WAS my blog for the years 2010-2023, so I didn't want to lose that history. So, I did what any reasonable would would do and started cutting and pasting one entry at a time. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. I got the whole shebang, here for your archival purposes. I'll play with the format, but for now you can read my newest most recent posts, but also enjoy a blast from the past with "This Day in History" just below.

Another change I made is to wipe all evidence of this site from Google search results. You see, I'm a bit of an SEO expert now which means I know all the ways to prevent being found. That should assuage some of your fears about these stories resurfacing. I've also implemented my own proprietary redaction capabilities and redacted all of your last names, or personally identifiable information. So, fear not, you should not be showing up on any Google searches and being denied new jobs because of the transgressions of your youth. If you see anything else you'd like redacted let me know. What's great is, I can still read it, but nobody else can.

So there you go. This blog is now more my own personal diary you can read if you feel like it instead of an attention whoring cry for help. Although, it would be wild, WILD, if anyone of you were still checking. I'm going to try to enable comments, and we'll just have to see if I get 15,000 spam comments in the first 7 seconds of publishing or not.

So let's do this. SideshoViD.com the next generation. Obviously we have much to cover in my life over the past 15 years, but we'll get to all that in time. Excelsior!

Tell me if this is totally evil of me. My boss is a really nice guy. I honestly enjoy working for him. And on top of that, I think he's really smart ... maybe even smarter than me, which means I respect him. Plus, he's pretty lax about just about everything having to do with my work, which is of the utmost importance when you're trying to employ yours truly. The only problem I have with him is his hand. It is completely normal except for one finger that bends 90 degrees at the last knuckle. I hate to be so petty, but for some reason this really bothers me. When he demonstrates a concept with his hands, or uses gestures for emphasis, I feel the blood rush to my face and I get uneasy and queasy. It's awful. I end up making uncomfortably strong eye contact to avoid looking, or I look away, which is never good when you're boss is having a conversation with you. Should I get over it or would that bother anybody else? Not that your opinion matters.

In other news, I came across an old relic of my childhood the other day. It's my first stereo ever, the ol' Gerard. I used to listen to Lisa Loeb "Tails" (the first CD I ever owned) on repeat for weeks at a time on the ol' Gerard. This thing is so badass. The remote has a button for opening and closing the CD tray, but does not have a power button, nor volume control. Because there are many times when you would need to open and close the CD tray from across the room, but rarely if ever would you want to modulate the volume. I decided that instead of tucking it back away in the nether regions from whence it came, I would give it new life. I took a cue from David27 and put the stereo in my bathroom, so I can listen to music in the morning while I'm showering. I just tried it for the first time this morning and it is absolutely heavenly.

Also, it gives new meaning to the phrase, "Rock out with your cock out!" Excelsior!

Another weekend is upon us, dear readers. We have all survived another week of this hellish summer. Wait, did I say hellish? I meant hellaciously breezy. Not much transpired this week. I laid out yesterday and I'm pretty burnt today, but it doesn't hurt too much. I got a lot done on my project and I'm feeling optimistic. I might even meet with the professor next week. I tried to find him today, but to no avail. I went to the rec a few times and got swoll, swam a bunch of laps, and played a little ping pong. I went and put in an application for a job at Planet Beach, the tanning salon I used to go to. Yes, I put in an actual high schoolish retard of a position anyone with the IQ of a broomstick could do it application for a minimum wage living on welfare white trash paying job. There I said it. I need to apply to a couple other places, but today I wore a dew rag to class so I didn't think I looked particularly presentable. Allinall though I'd have to say this was an excellent summer week. I got a lot accomplished.

"Whats on the slate for tonight?" you ask. Ah my little naivette viewer, always such a curious little monkey. Well, I imagine there'll be some alcohol consumed judging by the massive amounts we just purchased. We might go out, we might stay in, we might have company, we might not. Everything is up in the air still, but I don't care either way cause I'monna have fun regardless. Tomorrow, I think I want to go see Austin Powers. I didn't get to see it today like I wanted. So if anyone reads this before tomorrow and wants to accompany me (or pay for me or whatever) just let me know. As you know you can always email me at SideshoViD@sideshovid.com. Excelsior!