do you find this odd?
The other day, driving to work, I saw some kids on their way to high-school. Windows down, rap music blaring, and smoke billowing out both sides of the car. We were stopped in traffic at the time, and the passenger chose this is as the right moment to clear the cashed bowl they had been puffing on. He craned his head out the window, put his mouth to the ceramic pipe, and blew out the ash. Man, we were never that brazen... smoke weed before school? Nope. After school, sure; in the car, sure. It was just funny, he looked right at me (as I was right beside them in traffic) as he cleared the bowl... not a care in the world. I shoulda got the plates and narc'd on 'em, but nah... I lived in that world once... maybe not quite as extreme... but still. Intro paragraph over.
Friday night (Saturday morning, whatever), moderately drunk - so much so that my fingers are stubborn on the keyboard. Not wanting to stretch to the right letters, skipping words in hopes my brain won't notice. Seriously, if you could see the type-to-backspace ratio for that last sentence, you'd know what I'm talking about. The 90 Day Men are playing in Winamp... I hated them at first, mocked the singer's "singing," but now I love them - the music is amazing, the tone is something altogether new and interesting. Get the album, even if you hate it - you'll be better for it. Anyway, the night started off at the new brewery/restaurant here in town. Two-hour wait for dinner, all two hours of which was spent sampling beer. Dinner, more beer. Afterward, the crew reassembles at my place to take care of the leftover leftovers from last weekend's Halloween bash. Everyone leaves and it's 1am, and I decide to drink some water and write. I'm not staying up much longer, my fingers are lazy like they're waking-up cold and have gone long unused - and my mind is muddled with beer. Just long enough to put this 90 Day Men album on my MSI flash MP3 player - then I hit the sack with the album in my ears. In fact, this is it; I am done; goodnight until I pick up this entry again, no doubt on Sunday night.
Saturday morning, and the day started out ambitious enough. Slept in late and then decided to hit the backyard and finish cutting stones for the porch. Put on the work-clothes and fired up the saw, cut three bricks and placed them, pushed the trigger on the saw for the next batch of bricks - and nothing. Checked the outlet, checked the breaker - nothing. Owell, I figure it was the yard's way of telling me that I wasn't meant to work today. Instead, I was meant to sit here, on the couch, watching old episodes of the Twilight Zone and working on webpages. I've decided I'll heed the signs, and do my best to do nothing.
Oh man, I went a little crazy with Sharaun gone and smoked my pipe in the house all day. Then I came in the house yesterday after a nice dinner at Erik and Kristi's, only to realize that the place reeked of stale pipe tobacco. Slept last night with all the windows open and the fans on, in an attempt to air the place out. And as a final precaution this morning before heading out to pick her up at the airport, hit the place with some air freshener and Febreze. I musta done a good job, 'cause she didn't say anything when she walked in the door. I even tried some crafty pre-excuse about the cat taking an exceptionally pungent dump or something. Ahh... freedom... to smoke my pipe on the couch, to eat spaghetti two nights in a row, to have a floor free of cast-off clothes and junk. I'm glad my wife's back.
So, to recap: go get the 90 Day Men album, and while you're there pick up the Go! Team album. Then, when your friends hear songs on the OC and latest WB shows that they remember hearing in your car months earlier - there will be no recourse but for them to acknowledge your psychic taste in music. Dave out.
what that man said
Left work early today for a 3:30 appointment. Yeah, an appointment with a lawn mower and my front yard. Since ol' Ben Franklin took away my after-work daylight, I've got to be creative with when I get non-weekend yardwork done. Hey, saw this the day before the election. Seems to say that the real interpretation of Bin Laden's words on his pre-election tape is actually a threat to individual US states choosing to side with Bush. Dunno how much truth there is to it, but I found it interesting. The website seems credible, and releasing a pre-election video which is directly trying to influence the election makes sense to me. Owell, intro paragraph over.
As often as I've complained about my sedentary, cubicle-based, job and my desire for something with a little more "movement," there is one good thing about it - I get to listen to music all day long. I've been lucky, having had a series of jobs where I can indulge in tunes: working in a music store, and desk jobs where I can throw on the headphones and hang out in my own little world. It gives me a great opportunity to hear new tunes. Most of the time, I'm not listening-listening, it's more like background music - but I do pick up the "feel" of the album that way, which puts me in a better position to appreciate it more if it turns out to be good. Anyway, I have no idea what I'm saying - I just wanted to talk about how I'm happy I have a job where I can listen to tunes all day. There, was that so hard?
I'm going to go against my better judgment and write a paragraph inspired by a TV show... and not any TV show, the new 91210 - the OC. I know, I know... where are my scruples, right? But I'm gonna break it down for y'all, I love that show. I don't even care, call it a guilty pleasure or something. Anyway, I'm not going to write about the show - I'm going to write about something the show made me think of.
Back in high school, I think our senior year, a friend of mine "ran away" from home. Not in the side-of-a-milk-carton thing, when you're 18 it's pretty much your choice to make. He had some problems with his dad, and decided he'd had enough. He moved in with another friend of ours, and stayed in a guest room there. Come graduation, I had grown a lot closer to Jeremy. We were both sticking around the hometown for the next two years, choosing cheaper and easier community college over a four-year school. Our mutual friend, the one he was living with, however, had chosen to move away. This left Jeremy without a place to stay.
On a whim, I suggested he come live with me, at my parents' house. Out of that casual suggestion, a living arrangement was born. A living arrangement that was awesome. We were best friends, brothers even. Never have I been closer to someone, or enjoyed someone's company that much. For two years Jeremy lived in our converted garage, just like Ryan on the OC. (I told you it was coming back, didn't I). Anyway, when I watch that show - I think of those years when Jeremy lived with us, and it just makes me feel good. Every once in a while, I start thinking that the days I'm living in are surely the best days of my life. I've thought that a lot, probably every year.
I think that's the way it should be... every year is the best year. Even when you look back on them, they are still the best years. Today: the best year; last year: the best year. I've been extremely fortunate, I try to remember that. I do.
Next week, I already have a couple entries planned. I'm going to write about my New Orleans drug experience, and about getting robbed on the empty streets of Nassau. Holy crap I love this site, reminds me of Dr. Bronner's soap. The term "bastardy queer" is priceless. Dave out.
stop off to top off
The president is still the president, and Americans voted him that way again. No matter what is said about "stealing" the election last time - this time it's not up for debate. The country prefers Bush, simple as that. I think the democrats made some key mistakes, one of them the fact that they are constantly calling Bush "stupid." Perhaps not outright, but be it either inferred or insinuated - the impression one would get is that he is too dumb, or inept, to properly lead. Maybe, without knowing it, the dems shot themselves in the foot with this... My bet is that there are plenty of Joe Americans who can identify with Bush's situation, and view the dems' assertion of his ignorance as a mocking of their own brainpower. They can give Bush their votes as a big middle-finger to the nerds that made fun of them in school, the jokes that go over their head on Saturday Night Live, and the pretentious, how-can-anyone-think-he's-funny-compared-to-hilarious-shows-like-Jackass John Stewart. Whatever, be it religious fundamentalists, gun enthusiasts, rich folks, who cares - he won. We, the United States, voted for him, so that's all she wrote. And that's all I'll write about it too.
Woke up this morning to the sound of rain in the downspouts, which for some reason sounds like it's fed through and amplifier and piped in through hidden speakers in the wall - so dang loud. That means rain on the way to work, and of course, umbrella usage. I mention this because, this morning, as I was walking into work using my umbrella, I realized something: either umbrellas suck, or I never learned how to use one right. (Man, check out all the commas in that sentence, but I think it's still grammatically sound, right?) I mean, an umbrella has never performed as billed for me. It's more cumbersome than protective, and I still get wet. I get wet because water rolls off the top and drips on me, I can't get the angle right to protect my back and front, and it does nothing for my legs/shoes. About all an umbrella is good for is keeping my head dry... and who cares about that. I should invest in a good hooded rain slicker... seems much more (I never remember, is "much more" OK to say?) sensible. Maybe I'm just inept.
I mentioned earlier that I was "chosen" at work to participate in a class in Mandarin. Some college prof is coming to teach us "survival Chinese," where we learn things like how to talk money, directions, small-talk, and business stuff. According to the official notice I got for the class, I was "identified as a strategic participant" for the course. Now, I don't know if that means I'm being shipped to China soon or something - but I am excited about free learning (as someone who currently owes tens-of-thousands to the government for education, free learning is appreciated). Anyway, the course is supposed to be "challenging," and we were urged not to commit to doing it unless we'll be able to be dedicated in our studies and "homework." You know how long it's been since I've had homework? Then, down near the bottom of the notice, there was a line which stated something like "... failure to complete the course with a passing grade will result in corrective action." Corrective action? Now I can get fired for a B, what pressure. Just like I'm from an Asian family! Y'know, like my wife's kids whose parents make them sleep outside when they get anything less than an A? (Yes, for real.) Apparently we're learning the culture as well as the language...
Well guys, I'm on my own. Dropped the wife off in front of the airport around six, and began my brief bachelor weekend by grabbing a burger and hanging out at Anthony's. Later, I think I'll go home and stay up late watching TV in my boxers. Actually, since I wrote that last sentence at Anthony's... it fast became 1am and I find myself at home in front of the PC, after a nice evening at the local brewpub. That's right. As I was passing said brewpub, Ben called me to inform me of a gathering at the very place... so I did a u-turn, and joined the fracas around 10:30pm. Much talk of the election and war and other less-hotbutton topics later, and with two pints downed, the final holdouts called it a night and headed home. 'Twas good, talking, drinking, coming home at 1am on a "schoolnight." What a life I live... pubbing it up on a Wednesday night with friends... coming home with that nice ale-inspired-edge to the evening's writing... and totally abusing ellipses while at it.
I think this is one of my best entries, found it the other day while trying to search through old entries and fix the commas-turned-into-question-marks problem from my WordPress migration. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but y'know what I mean. Or, maybe only I know what I mean. Seriously... I write as much for me as for anything. I can only hope that someone, somewhere, reads this shit with interest...
Sorry if I pissed off any Asians with the Asian family comment, but you know how I do. All of the sudden I want to write until dawn, but I realize I've got a pretty decent wordcount for an entry - and I don't really have much to say anyway. Until I can't string words together anymore, Dave out.
early returns
6pm, sitting here watching Peter Jennings (I'm an ABC News devotee) read early returns from the east-coast states. Sharaun and I are waiting until the after-work 5pm crowds die down a bit before heading to the polls. I'm totally wrapped up in the news coverage, it's kind of like watching a horse race... in slow motion... but there's some of that same excitement. And... the passing of a paragraph marks the passing of a couple hours, we're back from the polls... votes cast. Good stuff.
You guys can tune out for a while, I'm about to get super nerdy here.
I finally uninstalled Microsoft Office. One more program that I can now do without thanks to quality freeware. I’ll admit, I like Office. But, faced with really functional free alternatives like OpenOffice.org, it’s hard to justify the expense. I had held onto Office so long for a couple reasons: I love Outlook for e-mail, and I had designed a large Access database to track my music collection. OpenOffice had no good Access equivalent, and I had never found another e-mail app I was satisfied with. Both of those things recently changed.
Since migrating my webpages to a new, FreeBSD-based, host – I’ve taken the time to convert my music collection database from MS Access to MySQL. Having the database in MySQL removed my reliance on Access, so I decided to once again take a look at alternative e-mail clients. I re-tried Mozilla Thunderbird, which I had given up on before because it lacked a decent calendar feature like Outlook. However, with the addition of the Mozilla Calendar plugin, and a slick-looking theme – Thunderbird is all I’ll ever need in an Outlook replacement. So, thanks to MySQL and Mozilla – I was able to completely ditch MS Office for a completely free alternative. And, I can still use all my old Office docs and Outlook mails, because they’re all compatible. Now the only thing that costs money on my machine is Windows XP itself… which I’ll happily pay for. Rad.
It's late, I'm tired... it all signs point to another four years o' Bush. Sorry for the crappy entry, Dave out.
do your duty
Another Monday y'allz. The time changed, so when I saw how much sun was coming through the blinds when the alarm went off - I was confused. And now it's dark as I leave work, which is horribly depressing to me for some reason. When am I supposed to mow the lawn, at lunch or something? Oh, the weekend? Really? OK, if you say so.
Took down all the Halloween hoopla today, some at lunch and some after work (before the sun failed). I like getting it down right away, makes me feel some kinda "vigilant" about not overstaying some kind of holiday decoration welcome, y'know upholding that 50's neighborhood vibe I tend to labor under, delusional. After taking down the witch, ghost, and tombstones, we headed over to Anthony's for some dinner (communal meals are popular in the crowd we run with), and some Land of the Lost watching. Man those DVDs were a great purchase... solid cheese man. Greenscreen and stop-motion clay dinosaurs, the pinnacle of 1974 Saturday morning kids programming. Awesome sci-fi plots and horrible, terrible acting make the show irresistible. I love it.
Sharaun's leaving me mid-week to head to Florida for a weekend wedding. That makes me a bachelor for the weekend, it also leaves me with a clean house for a few days. There's some things I like about having the house to myself, like the "hermity" feeling I can bring on by shutting locking the doors and huddling in the corner of the couch. Purposely not answering the phone, cooking my own food, doing what I want. Not that I can't do all that with Sharaun around - but the solitude enhances the feeling. I like that.
I've been telling my brother and a buddy that I'd make them some CDs for a month now, so tonight I sat down and composed the list of albums I actually wanna send to them. Some are new, some are not-so-new, but the common theme is that I think they're good tunes they'll enjoy. There'll be some picks from this year's "top ten," which is pretty firm in my mind already, barring some last-minute contender. Right now I've got about twelve CDs I'll be sending out, and, in true mix-tape style, I'll include a paragraph about each one stating why I do, and the intended listener should, dig it. Oh, they'll be some good stuff on... some obvious and some sleepers.
Listening to the new Death Cab and Bright Eyes tracks from the Daniel Johnston cover album - good stuff. I think that's all she wrote tonight folks. Oh, and to everyone out there, get out and vote! Watch Democracy happen, live. Dave out.
wound down
Great weekend, and I'm pretty beat tonight. For that reason, I 'm not really going to type much. Today was party clean-up day - sweeping, mopping, steam-cleaning, and the like. The house didn't take too bad of a beating, which was good.
The party was great, even though we polished off an entire keg of Newcastle in just about three hours (fastest keg-floating I think I've ever seen). If you wanna see how it all went down, Suzy's got some pictures on her site, and I've posted a hodge-podge of stuff too. In addition to that, make sure to cast your vote over at the official post-party costume contest voting page.
Tonight, Halloween, I fired up both fog machines, put on some creepy music, and handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. We got about twice the kids we had last year, which still isn't that many, but at least it made it all a little more worthwhile. Tomorrow it all comes down and I mow the lawn, back to normalcy.
I told you I wasn't going to write a lot. The pictures should suffice. Dave out.
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