Ben,

I watched Dirty Harry last night. I planned to just put it on the Roku and fall asleep, but I was captivated. Here was a guy who dresses basically like me when I’m trying to look like a dandy. Slacks, tweed coat with elbow patches, sweater vest with shirt and tie underneath. But Harry, he has a giant fucking gun and a mean disposition. Which is why I remain a dandy, and Dirty Harry remains a Dandy Badass.

It reminds me of a quote from Snowcrash:

“Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world. If I moved to a martial arts monastery in China and studied real hard for ten years. If my family was wiped out by Colombian drug dealers and I swore myself to revenge. If I got a fatal disease, had one year to live, and devoted it to wiping out street crime. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad.”

Of course, we both know, I’m now nearly 27, which means I have no such nefarious aspirations. Now I just want warm soup and Perry Mason. And maybe a snuggie.

-Charlie

Charles-

It’s so quaint how you embrace the dreariness of winter, wearing your Seasonal Affective Disorder on your sleeve, carrying around your own special brand of gravitas.  I consider it my personal responsibility – and honor – to keep your spirits lifted through the greyer months with my modest prose.

And how’s this for uplifting, I sold my G5 last night for $550.  Seriously.  Somehow the fact that it uses obsolete technology such as PCI slots instead of PCIe slots helped instead of hindered the process.  That being said, I only received one reply to my post, but luckily they were looking for my specific model.  The guys who bought it run a music recording studio.  Apparently they had the same exact model G5 as mine and use a lot of peripherals and upgrades (PCI cards, RAM) that can’t be used with the later G5’s or the new Intel machines.

Do I feel bad selling something that most sensible people wouldn’t even want as a door stop?  A little.  Did I make the risks of buying a used early generation G5 clear to the buyer?  Yes.  Sort of.  One, their computer – the same exact computer – just died.  Clearly they know the risks.  Also, I made sure they were going to use the computer in a climate controlled environment and spoke of the tendency of G5’s to overheat.  Plus, they said it’s a temporary solution and that the tower will become a backup in short time.  So, is my conscience clear?  Clear enough, Charlie.

Come visit us in NYC again before your Annual Birthday Marathon LAN Party and Celebration of Love.  I think there’s a midnight showing of Jurassic Park at the Sunshine Theater later this month.

Stay warm, friend.

-Baby Benlardo