I haven't written much lately, but not much has been happening lately. So get off my tip already.
Here's the important things on my mind right now. 12:11 AM on Sunday, March 16th, 2008:
1. I have a little pain in my left armpit.
2. I bought a Temptations CD tonight at work, and while I haven't listened to the whole thing, what I did listen to in the car on the way home from work was G O O D, and pumped me up in the same way that listening to the Supremes pumps me up, but in a less gay way.
3. I am excited about our impending trip to the frosty North. And a little nervous. What if I die? What if my jeans are too tight to fit a pair of long underwear underneath and I feel fat and uncomfortable the whole trip? What if I die? But mostly I'm just excited and looking forward to hanging with Seanyboy and Colio. And having an adventure with the J-Dog.
4. The current state of our apartment has gone from "charmingly messy" to "embarassingly disgusting."
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
When ze Cat is Away...
While Jeannie was away at a strawbale building workshop for most of the weekend, here's what I did, in chronological order:
1. took off my pants.
2. took lots of drugs.
3. hired 7 prostitutes of various races, genders, and ages.
4. put on my rubber gloves.
5. ME AND THE PROSTITUTES FINISHED PUTTIN' MY MUTHAF***IN' PUZZLE TOGETHA! BOOYAH!
1. took off my pants.
2. took lots of drugs.
3. hired 7 prostitutes of various races, genders, and ages.
4. put on my rubber gloves.
5. ME AND THE PROSTITUTES FINISHED PUTTIN' MY MUTHAF***IN' PUZZLE TOGETHA! BOOYAH!
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Re: Stacks
Fun fact: I hate doing dishes on days when I've gone to work, but when I have the day off it's one of my favorite things to do. I love putting on some music and doing dishes while I've got some bacon and eggs frying. I usually take little breaks to dance, doing the ubiquitous "Right step, toe. Left step, toe." white-guy dance seen at wedding receptions everywhere. And there is snapping involved, usually.
This morning the music involved was a new CD by Bon Iver. I would recommend it for fans of Iron & Wine. Except that the guy sings in falsetto, so if you don't like falsetto, I wouldn't recommend it.
Another fun fact: Both the Jeanners and I HATE to wash silverware, at any time of day or night, whether we've worked or not. Washing silverware sucks. So we would always end up doing all the dishes, but leaving the silverware to pile in the bottom of the sink until we were entirely out of silverware, and then we would be forced to wash them. Well, we recently came up with a decent solution to this problem: we took about 75% of our silverware out of the drawer and put it in a box above our cabinets. Now we only have about 4 of each denomination of silverware in the drawer, and we wash the silverware much more regularly.
The Jeanners is at a strawbale insulation workshop today. She'll be back this evening, and then goes again tomorrow. I'm off work both days this weekend, so I'll be on my own both days. So far it's been pretty uneventful: dishes, white guy dancing, a trip to the market, backing up computer files. A little straightening of the apartment, taking out the trash. Weighing my keyboard to see if I'll have to pay extra to fly it to Alaska. I won't.
Jeanners and I had pizza and salad last night from a local pizza place where we'd never eaten before. It sucked. Experiment failed.
This morning the music involved was a new CD by Bon Iver. I would recommend it for fans of Iron & Wine. Except that the guy sings in falsetto, so if you don't like falsetto, I wouldn't recommend it.
Another fun fact: Both the Jeanners and I HATE to wash silverware, at any time of day or night, whether we've worked or not. Washing silverware sucks. So we would always end up doing all the dishes, but leaving the silverware to pile in the bottom of the sink until we were entirely out of silverware, and then we would be forced to wash them. Well, we recently came up with a decent solution to this problem: we took about 75% of our silverware out of the drawer and put it in a box above our cabinets. Now we only have about 4 of each denomination of silverware in the drawer, and we wash the silverware much more regularly.
The Jeanners is at a strawbale insulation workshop today. She'll be back this evening, and then goes again tomorrow. I'm off work both days this weekend, so I'll be on my own both days. So far it's been pretty uneventful: dishes, white guy dancing, a trip to the market, backing up computer files. A little straightening of the apartment, taking out the trash. Weighing my keyboard to see if I'll have to pay extra to fly it to Alaska. I won't.
Jeanners and I had pizza and salad last night from a local pizza place where we'd never eaten before. It sucked. Experiment failed.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Bemmies, Ploobies, and Dragon Tails
Usually I have to poop sometime between 8am and 10am. But for the past few days I've been not pooping until I get home from work in the evenings. It makes for long turds.
What a good few days it's been!
The Beej was here, but he is no longer here. We hung out on Saturday, then on Saturday night he went to see the show, and I went to the inter-faith comedy show with Jeannie, and then on Sunday the Beej and I went to lunch at Old Country Buffet (f*** yeah!) where I ate too much and then rolled around like a baby, and then bowling with A-Train, and then went to strike the set. Then PKP drove the Beej to the airport, and after strike I went to a small gathering of folks from the show, which was very enjoyable. Lord, I hate trying to compress a weekend into a paragraph, it's not interesting for anybody to read, but there it is.
If you know me, then probably when you read that Jeannie and I went to an inter-faith comedy show, in your mind you said "WTF?" If that's what you said in your mind, then you truly know me. The words "inter-faith comedy show" regularly show up in my nightmares. The idea makes me slightly nauseous and makes the skin on my thighs get all flaky and irritated. But the J-Dog went because it's a big fundraiser for Habitat, and I went because I support the J-Dog. Basically it was 3 stand up comics - one christian, one muslim, and one jew. And they performed one after the other. It wasn't good, but it wasn't terrible. Basically, my thoughts about interfaith comedy shows remain unchanged. But I didn't die or anything. And the jewish comic was so good, I've decided to become a jew!
Yesterday I had a customer who, when I asked him if he wanted his receipt, said that I should "stick it in [my] ear for being so nice." I think, though, that he was really being sarcastic and that he was implying that I was not nice. I didn't let it get me down, though, because his fingernails were excessively long, and it's been a casual observation of mine that people with excessively long fingernails are generally at least slightly deranged.
Last night I purchased our tickets to Alaska. It's on. We leave the 19th.
Old Country Buffet was awesome, by the way.
Someone is hammering next door.
What a good few days it's been!
The Beej was here, but he is no longer here. We hung out on Saturday, then on Saturday night he went to see the show, and I went to the inter-faith comedy show with Jeannie, and then on Sunday the Beej and I went to lunch at Old Country Buffet (f*** yeah!) where I ate too much and then rolled around like a baby, and then bowling with A-Train, and then went to strike the set. Then PKP drove the Beej to the airport, and after strike I went to a small gathering of folks from the show, which was very enjoyable. Lord, I hate trying to compress a weekend into a paragraph, it's not interesting for anybody to read, but there it is.
If you know me, then probably when you read that Jeannie and I went to an inter-faith comedy show, in your mind you said "WTF?" If that's what you said in your mind, then you truly know me. The words "inter-faith comedy show" regularly show up in my nightmares. The idea makes me slightly nauseous and makes the skin on my thighs get all flaky and irritated. But the J-Dog went because it's a big fundraiser for Habitat, and I went because I support the J-Dog. Basically it was 3 stand up comics - one christian, one muslim, and one jew. And they performed one after the other. It wasn't good, but it wasn't terrible. Basically, my thoughts about interfaith comedy shows remain unchanged. But I didn't die or anything. And the jewish comic was so good, I've decided to become a jew!
Yesterday I had a customer who, when I asked him if he wanted his receipt, said that I should "stick it in [my] ear for being so nice." I think, though, that he was really being sarcastic and that he was implying that I was not nice. I didn't let it get me down, though, because his fingernails were excessively long, and it's been a casual observation of mine that people with excessively long fingernails are generally at least slightly deranged.
Last night I purchased our tickets to Alaska. It's on. We leave the 19th.
Old Country Buffet was awesome, by the way.
Someone is hammering next door.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
3 AM Eternal
Brian G. left this link on my Facebook wall. It's very true.
Last night the Beej arrived at around 11, and he and Pat and I went to a cast party where we stayed until the wee hours of the morning. There was a lot of good food there, and also a ping pong table. I played some decent ping pong, and also achieved a Zen-like state while volleying with Pat.
BJ was mad that I "didn't say any nice things about [him] in the blog glossary." I will use this space to say that while writing BJ's entry in the glossary, I was going to tell 2 stories, one of which was about BJ and I driving to Chicago from St. Louis, leaving very early in the morning, and about how I meowed along to a lot of the songs we listened to. And about how it drove him absolutely ape-shit crazy bonkers. I was also going to tell the story of how we drove across the country on 9/11. But I think I've already told that story somewhere. I was also going to write about his beautiful eyes and about how he always manages to conceal his pantylines.
There Beej, are you f@#$ing happy now?
I stayed up until after 3AM, and that's the first time that's happened in a long time. I blame the new jeans.
Today I called out sick from work because I'm sick. Wait, let me try that again.
Today I called out sick from work.
Last night the Beej arrived at around 11, and he and Pat and I went to a cast party where we stayed until the wee hours of the morning. There was a lot of good food there, and also a ping pong table. I played some decent ping pong, and also achieved a Zen-like state while volleying with Pat.
BJ was mad that I "didn't say any nice things about [him] in the blog glossary." I will use this space to say that while writing BJ's entry in the glossary, I was going to tell 2 stories, one of which was about BJ and I driving to Chicago from St. Louis, leaving very early in the morning, and about how I meowed along to a lot of the songs we listened to. And about how it drove him absolutely ape-shit crazy bonkers. I was also going to tell the story of how we drove across the country on 9/11. But I think I've already told that story somewhere. I was also going to write about his beautiful eyes and about how he always manages to conceal his pantylines.
There Beej, are you f@#$ing happy now?
I stayed up until after 3AM, and that's the first time that's happened in a long time. I blame the new jeans.
Today I called out sick from work because I'm sick. Wait, let me try that again.
Today I called out sick from work.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Addendum
I totally left Rich out of the glossary by mistake (although he was referenced in the Truman section of the glossary). The error has been corrected.
Jeannie and I went to dinner at the restaurant/bakery where Katie works. It was quite delicious. Tonight we're going to snuggle under the covers (for warmth) and watch 30 Rock.
Jeannie and I went to dinner at the restaurant/bakery where Katie works. It was quite delicious. Tonight we're going to snuggle under the covers (for warmth) and watch 30 Rock.
Big News
Two fairly big things happened today:
1. I bought my first pair of jeans in like 6 years. When I put them on I feel younger.
2. The wife of my friend Doug sent me a message on Facebook. Doug and I have been friends since we were wee tots, and I have fallen out of contact with him since I moved to Baltimore. In fact, my one big regret of the last 6 years has been not keeping in touch with him. So I'm pretty excited to hear from her.
1. I bought my first pair of jeans in like 6 years. When I put them on I feel younger.
2. The wife of my friend Doug sent me a message on Facebook. Doug and I have been friends since we were wee tots, and I have fallen out of contact with him since I moved to Baltimore. In fact, my one big regret of the last 6 years has been not keeping in touch with him. So I'm pretty excited to hear from her.
Glossary of References
I've been thinking about the blog today, and how people from one corner of my life may be reading references about people from another corner of my life and have no idea who I'm talking about. So I'm going to put together a glossary of names (and in some cases, nicknames) and how I know this particular person or place. In no particular order, except that Jeannie is first.
Jeannie (The Jeanners, J-Dog) - Jeannie and I are married. We got married on November 13th, 2004. We had our first date on March 5, 1995, and have been together ever since, except for approx. 6 months during 1998-99 when we broke up, which was one of the best things we ever did (although at the time it did not seem that way). We are both originally from St. Louis, though I am technically from the 'burbs, while she is a city girl, proper. She and I did not go to the same high school (she went to an all-girls place, and I went to an all-boys), and we went to college in separate places, as well. I think that most everyone who has met Jeannie will agree that she is awesome. But the really awesome thing about her is that the longer you know her, the more awesome she gets.
G&T's - Gin and tonics.
The B&N - I won't say what it stands for, but it's the store where I work.
The Schluetermetz' (Jen, Brad, Henry, Jack) - The Schluetermetz' is the collective name for Jen and Brad and their children (Henry and Jack). Jeannie and I met Jen and Brad in college, although I would like to point out that both Jen and Brad are several years older than us. They are (I think that all of my friends who know them will agree) probably the smartest of my friends. And funny as hell. They currently live in Ohio, but will be moving to Oregon in the summer of '08. Brad is sometimes called "Stinky." And occasionally, "Stinky Steinmetz the Hot Glue Man." Jen and I are very competitive when we get together, and I think she probably vacillates between liking me and intensely disliking me. I think we are a lot alike.
Truman - Truman is a reference to the name of the school where I went to college. It is located in a small town in Missouri. I went there from 1995 - 1999. Other people frequently referenced in the blog who went there: the Schluetermetz', Rich, BJ, Pat K., E. Elz, Drew, K-Torr, J. Knese, Sean, Karista and probably others I'm forgetting. Ron was and is a professor of all things pertaining to the technical aspects of theatre there.
Rich (RR, RWR, Richochet, Uncle Rico) - Rich is a friend from Truman. He is the inventor of the "down home country breakfast," and it's accompanying theme song. Some of his expressions and his sense of humor are often copied by me and some of my other friends. In short, he is probably the most consistently funny person I know. He lived with the Schluetermetz' for awhile, forming a group of people collectively known as the Schlueterileymetz'. Once, Rich and I sent a series of e-mails to each other where we signed off using the names of professional wrestlers, each of us trying to outdo the other with the obscurity of the wrestlers we were coming up with. In the end, both of us ended up cheating -- me using a book that I purchased from a school bookfair when I was a kid called "Wrestling Superstars," and Rich consulting the internet. In addition to being funny, Rich is probably the most thoughtful person I know, too. He seems to weigh things heavily. He's currently in St. Louis, having moved there from Chicago via Ohio.
Aimee (A-Train) - The first new person I met upon moving to Baltimore. She's from Pennsylvania. I met her on the day that she went to the Pigtown festival. She was one of my roommates during the Early Baltimore Period, and we lived together from 2001-2004. She is also a fellow LOST fan. The Jeanners and I like to hang with the A-Train. Currently living in the Baltimore area.
Early Baltimore Period - The time that Jeannie and I lived in Baltimore, but before we got married. Roughly 2001-2004.
BJ (The Beej, Bijou, Ben) - BJ is a friend from Truman, originally from the Kansas City area. We also were roommates in Baltimore during the Early Baltimore Period. BJ is the one who got me my job at the B&N, because when I moved to Baltimore he was working there in the receiving area. He also yelled at me for eating a bag of his chips approximately 20 minutes after I arrived in Baltimore. Not too long after I arrived in Baltimore, BJ moved back to the Midwest. He has made numerous visits back, however, and in early 2007 he lived in our (Jeannie's and my) living room for about 2 months.
Pat (Pat K., PKP) - Pat is another friend from Truman. Also a roommate during the Early Baltimore Period. Also a former B&N employee. Pat is a founding member of the Chesapeake Shakesp. Co., and probably the best actor that I personally know. Married to Teresa (T, T-Bone). Pat is one of the few people currently in the Baltimore-Washington area that Jeannie and I hang out with on a semi-regular basis, although not as much as we used to, and not nearly as much as we'd like to. (Please do not confuse references to Pat with references to "Patrick from Work," who I no longer work with and thus do not have a good distinguishing name for)
Drew (the Dude, Flippy the Magnificent) - Drew is a friend from high school who used to loan me pens every day. He is probably the gayest straight man that you will ever meet, or vice versa. He also went to Truman, and we lived together in the dorms our freshman year. He once puked in a basket of my clean laundry. Also, we once drove from Truman to Notre Dame and back in one day, and on the way back he told me an incredibly detailed, virtually day-by-day account of his life story. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever heard. He is a clown. Professionally. Married to Felicity (F-Bomb). Has lived in St. Louis, Portland, Chicago, and currently San Francisco.
Eric E. (Ricky, E. Elz,) - Eric is a friend from high school, and also from Truman, where he and I were roommates during our junior year. He would get mad at me for not rinsing the dishes after I washed them. Eric has always amazed me as one of those people who seems to know everyone, and also seems very comfortable in social situations. Which is strange because he sometimes also seems to hate everyone. Eric very often strikes me as 10 different people trapped in one body. And one of them wears cowboy hats and boots. The summer before I left St. Louis, my favorite thing was to hang out with Eric and Drew and Karista. Eric is the brother of OAA. Currently lives in St. Louis. (References to Eric E. shouldn't be confused with references to Eric, Jeannie's former boss. If I ever talk about Eric, Jeannie's former boss, I will probably refer to him as Eric (Jeannie's former boss).
OAA (Amy) - OAA is Eric E.'s sister. I know her primarily through her wonderful blog and also because for the past several years we've gotten drinks at the Ritz together on Christmas Eve.
J. Knese - Jeff is a friend from high school and college. I met him because we were in a band together. He is a terrific bass player. We were not technically roommates at Truman, but we kinda were. Jeff is one of those people who will be very quiet for a good portion of the time that you've been hanging out, and then at the end of the evening he will say the funniest thing you've ever heard. He used to have a job where he would travel to different prisons around the country, and once his travels brought him to Baltimore, where he went to a corn maze with us. Married to Casey. Living in St. Louis.
K-Torr - K-Torr's real name is John. He is a friend from high school, and also a roommate at Truman during our freshman, sophomore, and junior years. We shared a room for all of those years, and I would have to scream at him to wake up because he would be sleeping through his alarm for about 40 minutes. John is known for his big feet (size 17 shoes), but more for his great big heart. He was in the same band as J. Knese and I (The Quintessential Pine Tree Brothers) and has the most eclectic music tastes of anybody I know. Married to Christmas, and they currently live (I think) in the Denver area with their little boy, Nicholas.
Bewley - Bewley used to work with me at the B&N. In fact, she taught me how to do my job. She has since moved to Chicago. While she was at the B&N, Bewley was my work wife. Bewley is a native of the Baltimore area, and when I am very old and I think back to what the people in Baltimore were like, Bewley is probably the person who will pop into my brain. Bewley seems like a total democrat (tattoos, piercings, etc.) but is really a republican.
Korn (Korrine, Koko) - Korn took over Bewley's job at the B&N when Bewley left. She is rapidly developing the cynicism and hatred for humanity that is a key to working at the B&N. When Korn turned 21, The Jeanners and I had people from the B&N over to our apartment, and I got drunk and sick. Although I really didn't drink that much. It was kind of embarrassing. Korn is studying some sort of marine biology and only occasionally fails her classes. Her middle name is Keiko.
MAW (Mary Ann, the Walshers) - MAW is the second new person I met when I moved to Baltimore, and I instantly felt like I had known her for years. She reminds me of my aunt Sharon. MAW has a way of making you feel much more talented and interesting than you really are, and she is always at least 30 minutes late. She likes terrible movies. Currently lives in NYC, and I miss her.
Brian G. (Brian Gee, Brianna) - Works at the B&N. Everybody likes Brian G.
Brian W. (FCW) - Former boss at the B&N. Whenever I have a question about what to do at my job, I ask myself, what would W do?
Sean (Spiff, Seanyboy) - Sean is a friend from college. We bonded during an english class where we both seemed to like Allen Ginsberg and not like the professor. He could be described as a "hippie," although I don't think that he thinks like a hippie. Awesome songwriter, great guitar player, occasionally sings in tune. Once Sean and I drove 4000 miles in a week. He took off his boots in the back seat of my car and his feet stank very bad. I am Woodrow F. Call to Sean's Augustus McCrae. He currently lives in Alaska with his awesome girl, Nicole.
Katie (North American Wanderer, K-Pax) - Katie is a friend of ours, originally from Bethlehem, PA, that Jeannie met while she was working at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She and Jeannie have hung out a lot, walked together, and had a joint garden together at the Clifton Park community garden. She is interested in farming. She has been known to come over and drink G&T's at our kitchen table with us, which we enjoy. She has also spent a good portion of the last six months traveling around the country by train.
Karista - I might have met Karista in high school, but if I did I don't remember it. We became friends in college, and although I usually act like I'm much older than her, there are certain times of the year when we're the same age. She is at times very reserved, at times very wacky, and at times very normal. Her dad has a big mustache. Karista was a big part of the fun of the Kaldi's Period. The last I heard, she's teaching in St. Louis. It's been over a year since we've hung out, though.
Kaldi's Period - The summer before I left St. Louis. I spent a lot of time hanging out with Eric, Drew, and Karista (and California Mike, Blind Ryan, et al) at Kaldi's coffee house in St. Louis. A time that has a rosy, golden light shining around it in my memory. Other things I associate with the Kaldi's Period: Chuy Arzola's Mexican Restaurant, The Heights gym, and hanging out at the Schluetermetz' grandma's house.
Bosco (CMB, Color Me Bad) - The person that I have been friends with the longest, I think. Bosco and I met while playing soccer together when we were around 4 or 5 years old. Our dads coached most of our little league teams together. He and I also went to high school together, where he drove a white Honda Civic in which you had to turn off the air conditioner so you could get up to speed on the highway. He introduced me to the music of Frank Sinatra. His dad introduced me to the music of Pavarotti. When we were little kids, his family had a blue Ford Maverick that had a hole in the floor on the passenger side. It scared the hell out of me. Once, Bosco came to visit me at Truman, and I got drunk and threw up spaghetti (I don't recommend it), and then the next morning he and Eric and I went to Ailerons restaurant, where I wore a black stocking cap and pretended I was mentally challenged all morning. Married to Susan, who I like, and living in Kansas City with their little boy, Henry.
That's the glossary for now. If you come across a person or term in the blog that you're not familiar with and that's not included here, leave a comment and I'll update it.
Jeannie (The Jeanners, J-Dog) - Jeannie and I are married. We got married on November 13th, 2004. We had our first date on March 5, 1995, and have been together ever since, except for approx. 6 months during 1998-99 when we broke up, which was one of the best things we ever did (although at the time it did not seem that way). We are both originally from St. Louis, though I am technically from the 'burbs, while she is a city girl, proper. She and I did not go to the same high school (she went to an all-girls place, and I went to an all-boys), and we went to college in separate places, as well. I think that most everyone who has met Jeannie will agree that she is awesome. But the really awesome thing about her is that the longer you know her, the more awesome she gets.
G&T's - Gin and tonics.
The B&N - I won't say what it stands for, but it's the store where I work.
The Schluetermetz' (Jen, Brad, Henry, Jack) - The Schluetermetz' is the collective name for Jen and Brad and their children (Henry and Jack). Jeannie and I met Jen and Brad in college, although I would like to point out that both Jen and Brad are several years older than us. They are (I think that all of my friends who know them will agree) probably the smartest of my friends. And funny as hell. They currently live in Ohio, but will be moving to Oregon in the summer of '08. Brad is sometimes called "Stinky." And occasionally, "Stinky Steinmetz the Hot Glue Man." Jen and I are very competitive when we get together, and I think she probably vacillates between liking me and intensely disliking me. I think we are a lot alike.
Truman - Truman is a reference to the name of the school where I went to college. It is located in a small town in Missouri. I went there from 1995 - 1999. Other people frequently referenced in the blog who went there: the Schluetermetz', Rich, BJ, Pat K., E. Elz, Drew, K-Torr, J. Knese, Sean, Karista and probably others I'm forgetting. Ron was and is a professor of all things pertaining to the technical aspects of theatre there.
Rich (RR, RWR, Richochet, Uncle Rico) - Rich is a friend from Truman. He is the inventor of the "down home country breakfast," and it's accompanying theme song. Some of his expressions and his sense of humor are often copied by me and some of my other friends. In short, he is probably the most consistently funny person I know. He lived with the Schluetermetz' for awhile, forming a group of people collectively known as the Schlueterileymetz'. Once, Rich and I sent a series of e-mails to each other where we signed off using the names of professional wrestlers, each of us trying to outdo the other with the obscurity of the wrestlers we were coming up with. In the end, both of us ended up cheating -- me using a book that I purchased from a school bookfair when I was a kid called "Wrestling Superstars," and Rich consulting the internet. In addition to being funny, Rich is probably the most thoughtful person I know, too. He seems to weigh things heavily. He's currently in St. Louis, having moved there from Chicago via Ohio.
Aimee (A-Train) - The first new person I met upon moving to Baltimore. She's from Pennsylvania. I met her on the day that she went to the Pigtown festival. She was one of my roommates during the Early Baltimore Period, and we lived together from 2001-2004. She is also a fellow LOST fan. The Jeanners and I like to hang with the A-Train. Currently living in the Baltimore area.
Early Baltimore Period - The time that Jeannie and I lived in Baltimore, but before we got married. Roughly 2001-2004.
BJ (The Beej, Bijou, Ben) - BJ is a friend from Truman, originally from the Kansas City area. We also were roommates in Baltimore during the Early Baltimore Period. BJ is the one who got me my job at the B&N, because when I moved to Baltimore he was working there in the receiving area. He also yelled at me for eating a bag of his chips approximately 20 minutes after I arrived in Baltimore. Not too long after I arrived in Baltimore, BJ moved back to the Midwest. He has made numerous visits back, however, and in early 2007 he lived in our (Jeannie's and my) living room for about 2 months.
Pat (Pat K., PKP) - Pat is another friend from Truman. Also a roommate during the Early Baltimore Period. Also a former B&N employee. Pat is a founding member of the Chesapeake Shakesp. Co., and probably the best actor that I personally know. Married to Teresa (T, T-Bone). Pat is one of the few people currently in the Baltimore-Washington area that Jeannie and I hang out with on a semi-regular basis, although not as much as we used to, and not nearly as much as we'd like to. (Please do not confuse references to Pat with references to "Patrick from Work," who I no longer work with and thus do not have a good distinguishing name for)
Drew (the Dude, Flippy the Magnificent) - Drew is a friend from high school who used to loan me pens every day. He is probably the gayest straight man that you will ever meet, or vice versa. He also went to Truman, and we lived together in the dorms our freshman year. He once puked in a basket of my clean laundry. Also, we once drove from Truman to Notre Dame and back in one day, and on the way back he told me an incredibly detailed, virtually day-by-day account of his life story. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever heard. He is a clown. Professionally. Married to Felicity (F-Bomb). Has lived in St. Louis, Portland, Chicago, and currently San Francisco.
Eric E. (Ricky, E. Elz,) - Eric is a friend from high school, and also from Truman, where he and I were roommates during our junior year. He would get mad at me for not rinsing the dishes after I washed them. Eric has always amazed me as one of those people who seems to know everyone, and also seems very comfortable in social situations. Which is strange because he sometimes also seems to hate everyone. Eric very often strikes me as 10 different people trapped in one body. And one of them wears cowboy hats and boots. The summer before I left St. Louis, my favorite thing was to hang out with Eric and Drew and Karista. Eric is the brother of OAA. Currently lives in St. Louis. (References to Eric E. shouldn't be confused with references to Eric, Jeannie's former boss. If I ever talk about Eric, Jeannie's former boss, I will probably refer to him as Eric (Jeannie's former boss).
OAA (Amy) - OAA is Eric E.'s sister. I know her primarily through her wonderful blog and also because for the past several years we've gotten drinks at the Ritz together on Christmas Eve.
J. Knese - Jeff is a friend from high school and college. I met him because we were in a band together. He is a terrific bass player. We were not technically roommates at Truman, but we kinda were. Jeff is one of those people who will be very quiet for a good portion of the time that you've been hanging out, and then at the end of the evening he will say the funniest thing you've ever heard. He used to have a job where he would travel to different prisons around the country, and once his travels brought him to Baltimore, where he went to a corn maze with us. Married to Casey. Living in St. Louis.
K-Torr - K-Torr's real name is John. He is a friend from high school, and also a roommate at Truman during our freshman, sophomore, and junior years. We shared a room for all of those years, and I would have to scream at him to wake up because he would be sleeping through his alarm for about 40 minutes. John is known for his big feet (size 17 shoes), but more for his great big heart. He was in the same band as J. Knese and I (The Quintessential Pine Tree Brothers) and has the most eclectic music tastes of anybody I know. Married to Christmas, and they currently live (I think) in the Denver area with their little boy, Nicholas.
Bewley - Bewley used to work with me at the B&N. In fact, she taught me how to do my job. She has since moved to Chicago. While she was at the B&N, Bewley was my work wife. Bewley is a native of the Baltimore area, and when I am very old and I think back to what the people in Baltimore were like, Bewley is probably the person who will pop into my brain. Bewley seems like a total democrat (tattoos, piercings, etc.) but is really a republican.
Korn (Korrine, Koko) - Korn took over Bewley's job at the B&N when Bewley left. She is rapidly developing the cynicism and hatred for humanity that is a key to working at the B&N. When Korn turned 21, The Jeanners and I had people from the B&N over to our apartment, and I got drunk and sick. Although I really didn't drink that much. It was kind of embarrassing. Korn is studying some sort of marine biology and only occasionally fails her classes. Her middle name is Keiko.
MAW (Mary Ann, the Walshers) - MAW is the second new person I met when I moved to Baltimore, and I instantly felt like I had known her for years. She reminds me of my aunt Sharon. MAW has a way of making you feel much more talented and interesting than you really are, and she is always at least 30 minutes late. She likes terrible movies. Currently lives in NYC, and I miss her.
Brian G. (Brian Gee, Brianna) - Works at the B&N. Everybody likes Brian G.
Brian W. (FCW) - Former boss at the B&N. Whenever I have a question about what to do at my job, I ask myself, what would W do?
Sean (Spiff, Seanyboy) - Sean is a friend from college. We bonded during an english class where we both seemed to like Allen Ginsberg and not like the professor. He could be described as a "hippie," although I don't think that he thinks like a hippie. Awesome songwriter, great guitar player, occasionally sings in tune. Once Sean and I drove 4000 miles in a week. He took off his boots in the back seat of my car and his feet stank very bad. I am Woodrow F. Call to Sean's Augustus McCrae. He currently lives in Alaska with his awesome girl, Nicole.
Katie (North American Wanderer, K-Pax) - Katie is a friend of ours, originally from Bethlehem, PA, that Jeannie met while she was working at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She and Jeannie have hung out a lot, walked together, and had a joint garden together at the Clifton Park community garden. She is interested in farming. She has been known to come over and drink G&T's at our kitchen table with us, which we enjoy. She has also spent a good portion of the last six months traveling around the country by train.
Karista - I might have met Karista in high school, but if I did I don't remember it. We became friends in college, and although I usually act like I'm much older than her, there are certain times of the year when we're the same age. She is at times very reserved, at times very wacky, and at times very normal. Her dad has a big mustache. Karista was a big part of the fun of the Kaldi's Period. The last I heard, she's teaching in St. Louis. It's been over a year since we've hung out, though.
Kaldi's Period - The summer before I left St. Louis. I spent a lot of time hanging out with Eric, Drew, and Karista (and California Mike, Blind Ryan, et al) at Kaldi's coffee house in St. Louis. A time that has a rosy, golden light shining around it in my memory. Other things I associate with the Kaldi's Period: Chuy Arzola's Mexican Restaurant, The Heights gym, and hanging out at the Schluetermetz' grandma's house.
Bosco (CMB, Color Me Bad) - The person that I have been friends with the longest, I think. Bosco and I met while playing soccer together when we were around 4 or 5 years old. Our dads coached most of our little league teams together. He and I also went to high school together, where he drove a white Honda Civic in which you had to turn off the air conditioner so you could get up to speed on the highway. He introduced me to the music of Frank Sinatra. His dad introduced me to the music of Pavarotti. When we were little kids, his family had a blue Ford Maverick that had a hole in the floor on the passenger side. It scared the hell out of me. Once, Bosco came to visit me at Truman, and I got drunk and threw up spaghetti (I don't recommend it), and then the next morning he and Eric and I went to Ailerons restaurant, where I wore a black stocking cap and pretended I was mentally challenged all morning. Married to Susan, who I like, and living in Kansas City with their little boy, Henry.
That's the glossary for now. If you come across a person or term in the blog that you're not familiar with and that's not included here, leave a comment and I'll update it.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Perfect Piece of Bacon
This morning I made and ate the perfect piece of bacon. Crisp, but not burnt. Cooled, but not cold. Salty, but not too salty.
Thinking about it makes me warm inside.
Also this morning: the City came and finished cutting down the big old (dead) tree in front of our place. Bye bye big old (dead) tree! I miss you already.
Thinking about it makes me warm inside.
Also this morning: the City came and finished cutting down the big old (dead) tree in front of our place. Bye bye big old (dead) tree! I miss you already.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Booyah, it's cold!
I've been known to have some strange dreams. But the dream I had the other night may take the cake. And it's pretty stunning in its simplicity. Here goes:
I dreamed that Britney Spears was going to be performing a concert. And in the concert, she was going to be wearing a big prosthetic dick. And her people hired me to teach her how to shake her big prosthetic dick.
That's it. Pretty simple. But pretty damned weird.
Other news: It's looking like the Alaska trip is going to happen. And happen soon, at that. J-Dog and I are looking to get the week after March 19th off work and fly on up to hang with Sean and Cole. And I'm gonna stay a few days longer than the Jeanners so Sean and I can work on some more recording. I'm pretty damned excited.
Hmmmm. Beej may be here for a whirlwind trip this weekend. Or, more specifically, Saturday. He'll be in town for about a day to come see the show and then jet off. So, I shall attempt to hang with him for as long as possible during that day.
I dreamed that Britney Spears was going to be performing a concert. And in the concert, she was going to be wearing a big prosthetic dick. And her people hired me to teach her how to shake her big prosthetic dick.
That's it. Pretty simple. But pretty damned weird.
Other news: It's looking like the Alaska trip is going to happen. And happen soon, at that. J-Dog and I are looking to get the week after March 19th off work and fly on up to hang with Sean and Cole. And I'm gonna stay a few days longer than the Jeanners so Sean and I can work on some more recording. I'm pretty damned excited.
Hmmmm. Beej may be here for a whirlwind trip this weekend. Or, more specifically, Saturday. He'll be in town for about a day to come see the show and then jet off. So, I shall attempt to hang with him for as long as possible during that day.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
30 Rock
Well, the week just seems to be rolling along.
Over the last couple of weeks, the Jeanners and I have gotten hooked on watching streaming video of "30 Rock" on Netflix before going to bed. It is a god-damn funny show. Funny funny funny.
More progress has taken place on the puzzle. I was going to take a picture, Aimee, but I didn't. Too lazy.
I've had a couple of weird dreams lately. Don't remember them too well, but in one of them, E. Elz and I were going to see Tom Waits perform underneath a highway overpass in St. Louis. Although in the dream we said it was Baltimore. (but it was really St. Louis. It was kinda like a small baseball diamond underneath a highway, with bleachers set up and delapidated cars strewn about. Very appropriate for an impromptu Tom Waits performance.)
In another dream, I was going back to Truman to be auditorium manager again. I really don't remember very much of this dream at all, except it was nice to hang out with Ron again, and at one point in the dream, Randy B. was training me, and I remember him saying that, on average, he worked about one hour a day and got paid for eight. That sounds kinda how I remember the job.
Hmmm, that's about all for now. Looking forward to my day off on Thursday...
Oh, and I have forgotten to mention that LOST has been very GOOD this season, after an unusually weak season premiere. But the last few episodes have gotten me all pumped. Sometimes I wanna rip my pants off after I watch an episode..
Over the last couple of weeks, the Jeanners and I have gotten hooked on watching streaming video of "30 Rock" on Netflix before going to bed. It is a god-damn funny show. Funny funny funny.
More progress has taken place on the puzzle. I was going to take a picture, Aimee, but I didn't. Too lazy.
I've had a couple of weird dreams lately. Don't remember them too well, but in one of them, E. Elz and I were going to see Tom Waits perform underneath a highway overpass in St. Louis. Although in the dream we said it was Baltimore. (but it was really St. Louis. It was kinda like a small baseball diamond underneath a highway, with bleachers set up and delapidated cars strewn about. Very appropriate for an impromptu Tom Waits performance.)
In another dream, I was going back to Truman to be auditorium manager again. I really don't remember very much of this dream at all, except it was nice to hang out with Ron again, and at one point in the dream, Randy B. was training me, and I remember him saying that, on average, he worked about one hour a day and got paid for eight. That sounds kinda how I remember the job.
Hmmm, that's about all for now. Looking forward to my day off on Thursday...
Oh, and I have forgotten to mention that LOST has been very GOOD this season, after an unusually weak season premiere. But the last few episodes have gotten me all pumped. Sometimes I wanna rip my pants off after I watch an episode..
Thursday, February 14, 2008
No spam today
Had the day off work and spent it working on music. Luckily, I've gotten pretty used to the ear ringing, so it didn't interfere with recording. And it didn't hurt to listen to music in headphones, as I thought it might, so that's a good thing. Worked on another one of my cousin's songs, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. Kinda repetitive, but hey, it's a repetitive song. And I think it's got a nice, simple groove.
It's nice that people are getting involved in the "flight vs. time travel" debate (super speed is so stupid I don't think I'm even going to include it in the title of the debate.) I don't think I will rest until I've convinced everyone that time travel is the way to go. Thus far, we've only looked at the benefits of traveling to the past, but I think the real fun stuff could come about by traveling to THE FUTURE! Example: you wanna fly? Then travel to the future where (theoretically) human beings will have invented personal jetpacks or learned how to genetically alter our DNA to grow functional wings. You want super speed? Travel to the future and see if any advances have occurred in teleportation. Anyway, a vote for time travel is a vote for coolness.
Speaking of voting, the Jeanners and I wanted to vote in the Maryland primary on Tuesday, but unfortunately, Maryland has a 'closed' primary, which means you can only receive the ballot for the party with which you are registered, and both J-Dog and I are registered as "unaffiliated." Which means we don't get to vote in either party's election. So my vote for former Governor Mike Huckabee went uncounted.
Some reviews for the show have come out, most notably in the Wash. Post. The reviews have generally been positive, and nobody's said anything bad about the set (yet), so I'm happy.
I guess that's about it for now.
It's nice that people are getting involved in the "flight vs. time travel" debate (super speed is so stupid I don't think I'm even going to include it in the title of the debate.) I don't think I will rest until I've convinced everyone that time travel is the way to go. Thus far, we've only looked at the benefits of traveling to the past, but I think the real fun stuff could come about by traveling to THE FUTURE! Example: you wanna fly? Then travel to the future where (theoretically) human beings will have invented personal jetpacks or learned how to genetically alter our DNA to grow functional wings. You want super speed? Travel to the future and see if any advances have occurred in teleportation. Anyway, a vote for time travel is a vote for coolness.
Speaking of voting, the Jeanners and I wanted to vote in the Maryland primary on Tuesday, but unfortunately, Maryland has a 'closed' primary, which means you can only receive the ballot for the party with which you are registered, and both J-Dog and I are registered as "unaffiliated." Which means we don't get to vote in either party's election. So my vote for former Governor Mike Huckabee went uncounted.
Some reviews for the show have come out, most notably in the Wash. Post. The reviews have generally been positive, and nobody's said anything bad about the set (yet), so I'm happy.
I guess that's about it for now.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Let's compare your male device and my I am sure that my is bigger
This is gonna be a three part blog.
Part I: The title is yet another spam e-mail that I received today. My spams have begun to taunt me.
Part II: Today is the Jeanners' birthday. Happy birthday Jeanners! We both worked out our schedules to be off work (mostly), so after I worked this morning until 9am, we put on our long underwear and walked downtown . It was fun because it was cold and it started to snow while we were walking and it felt good to be off work together on a weekday and walking through the city. It took us about an hour to get downtown and we headed to the Federal Hill neighborhood to get some lunch, where we had some kick-ass pad thai (Jeannie = tofu, me = shrimp) at Thai Arroy. After lunch, we headed to the science center, because for her special day, Jeannie wanted to see the Body Worlds 2 exhibit, which if you don't know, consists of dead bodies that have been 'plastinated', which means that through some super-secret German process, the tissue is basically turned into a type of plastic and prevented from decaying. Then the bodies are kinda dissected and put into weird positions, and we get to look at them. I think that Jeannie and I were both kinda underwhelmed, because in the end everything looked pretty plastic-y, maybe only a step above one of those plastic torsos that you might use in a high school anatomy class. But, if you ever want to see some penises, you might want to consider seeing the Body Worlds 2 exhibit. (Because it has penises in it.)
Then, since we were at the science center already, we went and saw U2 in 3D at the Imax theater. I would like to point out that I did not force Jeannie to go see this on her birthday. In fact, I told her that I would go by myself some other time and she didn't have to go at all. But she wanted to. I was pretty disappointed with the whole thing. The 3D was pretty cool, but the show itself basically had all the bad parts of U2 (pretension, ego, preaching, etc.) without being very interesting musically or artistically or anything. The coolest part, I thought, was seeing the drum kit in 3D. And that's kinda sad, because I think the movie was shooting a lot higher than that.
So then the Jeanners and I walked home, and since we've been home we've been making an apple pie.
Part III: a few minutes ago, the J-Dog and I were talking, and I said that I thought having a time machine would be just about the coolest thing ever, and Jeannie said that she disagrees, that she would rather be able to fly. Which I think is total bullshit crap. I think it would be cool to fly, but it would probably get old after maybe an hour and a half or so. But with time travel, you have a lot more options. If you get tired of hanging out in dinosaur times, then you could go to the Wild West. Or you could visit past events in your life. The options are pretty much endless.
Poo time.
Part I: The title is yet another spam e-mail that I received today. My spams have begun to taunt me.
Part II: Today is the Jeanners' birthday. Happy birthday Jeanners! We both worked out our schedules to be off work (mostly), so after I worked this morning until 9am, we put on our long underwear and walked downtown . It was fun because it was cold and it started to snow while we were walking and it felt good to be off work together on a weekday and walking through the city. It took us about an hour to get downtown and we headed to the Federal Hill neighborhood to get some lunch, where we had some kick-ass pad thai (Jeannie = tofu, me = shrimp) at Thai Arroy. After lunch, we headed to the science center, because for her special day, Jeannie wanted to see the Body Worlds 2 exhibit, which if you don't know, consists of dead bodies that have been 'plastinated', which means that through some super-secret German process, the tissue is basically turned into a type of plastic and prevented from decaying. Then the bodies are kinda dissected and put into weird positions, and we get to look at them. I think that Jeannie and I were both kinda underwhelmed, because in the end everything looked pretty plastic-y, maybe only a step above one of those plastic torsos that you might use in a high school anatomy class. But, if you ever want to see some penises, you might want to consider seeing the Body Worlds 2 exhibit. (Because it has penises in it.)
Then, since we were at the science center already, we went and saw U2 in 3D at the Imax theater. I would like to point out that I did not force Jeannie to go see this on her birthday. In fact, I told her that I would go by myself some other time and she didn't have to go at all. But she wanted to. I was pretty disappointed with the whole thing. The 3D was pretty cool, but the show itself basically had all the bad parts of U2 (pretension, ego, preaching, etc.) without being very interesting musically or artistically or anything. The coolest part, I thought, was seeing the drum kit in 3D. And that's kinda sad, because I think the movie was shooting a lot higher than that.
So then the Jeanners and I walked home, and since we've been home we've been making an apple pie.
Part III: a few minutes ago, the J-Dog and I were talking, and I said that I thought having a time machine would be just about the coolest thing ever, and Jeannie said that she disagrees, that she would rather be able to fly. Which I think is total bullshit crap. I think it would be cool to fly, but it would probably get old after maybe an hour and a half or so. But with time travel, you have a lot more options. If you get tired of hanging out in dinosaur times, then you could go to the Wild West. Or you could visit past events in your life. The options are pretty much endless.
Poo time.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Ice Cream Social
Well, dammit, it's been a good weekend already and it's only half over...
In the past few days, the J-Dog and I have gotten to go see DOLL'S HOUSE, hang out with folks after the show, hang out with the A-Train, see MAW for a brief but nonetheless satisfying visit, start a puzzle (Thanks, Korn!), lounge around, and clean our apartment. Oh, and I bought ice cream the other day.
So the show was good, and we enjoyed hanging out with people after the show (in an effort to fulfill our new years' resolution to BE MORE SOCIAL), and then Jeannie and I went in tonight after the show to strike the set for the week. And we ended up going out again with some people. Which was fun. We're becoming quite the social butterflies, I suppose. Staying up till after 1am for two nights in a row!
Went out to dinner tonight with Aimee, which was good, as we haven't hung out for awhile. It seems that we're all in the same boat in that we don't know what to do with our lives. Does that ever go away? Although, really, I can't complain too much, because I don't really care what I do with my life, so the question only rarely rears it's head and bugs me. I wonder why I've never felt too pressured to actually do anything with my life? I'm relatively content to sit and stare and watch it go by, and I don't feel too much guilt about that. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Eh, who gives a shit, really. Life is about sitting at tables and talking to people over beers, anyway. Enjoying each other. Don't think about it too much.
Well, my ladyfriend is waiting for me in the boudoir (for sleepy time), but I still have to go poo poo before I make the sleepy, so I really should leave now.
Confidential to Aimee:
In the past few days, the J-Dog and I have gotten to go see DOLL'S HOUSE, hang out with folks after the show, hang out with the A-Train, see MAW for a brief but nonetheless satisfying visit, start a puzzle (Thanks, Korn!), lounge around, and clean our apartment. Oh, and I bought ice cream the other day.
So the show was good, and we enjoyed hanging out with people after the show (in an effort to fulfill our new years' resolution to BE MORE SOCIAL), and then Jeannie and I went in tonight after the show to strike the set for the week. And we ended up going out again with some people. Which was fun. We're becoming quite the social butterflies, I suppose. Staying up till after 1am for two nights in a row!
Went out to dinner tonight with Aimee, which was good, as we haven't hung out for awhile. It seems that we're all in the same boat in that we don't know what to do with our lives. Does that ever go away? Although, really, I can't complain too much, because I don't really care what I do with my life, so the question only rarely rears it's head and bugs me. I wonder why I've never felt too pressured to actually do anything with my life? I'm relatively content to sit and stare and watch it go by, and I don't feel too much guilt about that. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Eh, who gives a shit, really. Life is about sitting at tables and talking to people over beers, anyway. Enjoying each other. Don't think about it too much.
Well, my ladyfriend is waiting for me in the boudoir (for sleepy time), but I still have to go poo poo before I make the sleepy, so I really should leave now.
Confidential to Aimee:
Thursday, February 07, 2008
The Finish Line
Well, I'm not really at the finish line yet, but I am enjoying my first day off work where I haven't had to go work on the set in a long time. The show opens tomorrow night, and while most of my work is done, I'll still have to go in every Friday to remount the set and then take it down again at the end of every weekend. Here's how the set is looking:
How shall I spend my day? I had planned on a big celebratory bacon n' schmeggs breakfast, but I just started frying up the bacon (which is very old, because I haven't had many opportunities for big bacon n' schmegg breakfasts lately) and it smells really funky. So I have aborted the celebratory breakfast idea. Perhaps I'll have a celebratory Chinese lunch instead. I also need to pay our utilities bill. And I might do some shopping.
The ol' ear is still ringing. It seems like it might be a little better today than it was yesterday.
Also, I found out today that local NPR personality (and frequent B&N customer) Marc Steiner has been fired from our local NPR station. Sucky. He's a real nice guy, and has been a pretty important local media figure here for a long time. Anyway, if you're at all interested in Marc Steiner, read all about the hullaballoo here.
And you can tell I've been busy because, Jesus Christ, the new season of LOST started last week and I haven't even had time to write about it! My thoughts:
a) my god, it seems like the writing has gotten worse. The dialogue sucks.
b) the story is still good, and it's what keeps me tuning in (or illegally downloading).
c)
This guy is on LOST now (at least, he was in the season premiere.) You might recognize him from THE WIRE, but I recognize him from the B&N, where he has purchased stuff from time to time. So now I know one of the LOST cast members, which makes me both cool and lame.
Also, I've been listening to an album called The Animal Years, by Josh Ritter, which was recommended to me by Teresa and burned for me by Patrick. It's a damn good, straightforward, singer-songwriter type CD. Some sample lyrics that stood out when I first listened:
"The lake was a diamond in the valley's hand," and "The keys to the kingdom are locked inside the kingdom." Good stuff.
How shall I spend my day? I had planned on a big celebratory bacon n' schmeggs breakfast, but I just started frying up the bacon (which is very old, because I haven't had many opportunities for big bacon n' schmegg breakfasts lately) and it smells really funky. So I have aborted the celebratory breakfast idea. Perhaps I'll have a celebratory Chinese lunch instead. I also need to pay our utilities bill. And I might do some shopping.
The ol' ear is still ringing. It seems like it might be a little better today than it was yesterday.
Also, I found out today that local NPR personality (and frequent B&N customer) Marc Steiner has been fired from our local NPR station. Sucky. He's a real nice guy, and has been a pretty important local media figure here for a long time. Anyway, if you're at all interested in Marc Steiner, read all about the hullaballoo here.
And you can tell I've been busy because, Jesus Christ, the new season of LOST started last week and I haven't even had time to write about it! My thoughts:
a) my god, it seems like the writing has gotten worse. The dialogue sucks.
b) the story is still good, and it's what keeps me tuning in (or illegally downloading).
c)
This guy is on LOST now (at least, he was in the season premiere.) You might recognize him from THE WIRE, but I recognize him from the B&N, where he has purchased stuff from time to time. So now I know one of the LOST cast members, which makes me both cool and lame.
Also, I've been listening to an album called The Animal Years, by Josh Ritter, which was recommended to me by Teresa and burned for me by Patrick. It's a damn good, straightforward, singer-songwriter type CD. Some sample lyrics that stood out when I first listened:
"The lake was a diamond in the valley's hand," and "The keys to the kingdom are locked inside the kingdom." Good stuff.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Come again?
It's nice to know that I can always count on Knese's Emergency Pudding for an afternoon chuckle...
On Saturday I was working on the set and doing some manly hammering. (Mental Note: Manly Hammering would be a good band name.) Unfortunately, the manly hammering has left me with some hearing loss, as ever since Saturday I have only heard ringing in my right ear. So hopefully the ringing will go away because right now it's kinda giving me a headache, plus I can't really hear. One time when the J-Dog and I went to see The Twilight Singers at Fletcher's, my ears rang for about a week after the show, so I'm gonna wait a few days to see if it goes away before I go to see a doctor.
The set is looking ok. It's pretty close to how I pictured it in my head when the whole process started, except that the color that I painted the doors looks kinda dumb, and the doors are not as sturdy as I would've hoped. But I think it's still pretty good.
On Saturday I was working on the set and doing some manly hammering. (Mental Note: Manly Hammering would be a good band name.) Unfortunately, the manly hammering has left me with some hearing loss, as ever since Saturday I have only heard ringing in my right ear. So hopefully the ringing will go away because right now it's kinda giving me a headache, plus I can't really hear. One time when the J-Dog and I went to see The Twilight Singers at Fletcher's, my ears rang for about a week after the show, so I'm gonna wait a few days to see if it goes away before I go to see a doctor.
The set is looking ok. It's pretty close to how I pictured it in my head when the whole process started, except that the color that I painted the doors looks kinda dumb, and the doors are not as sturdy as I would've hoped. But I think it's still pretty good.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Get Down With the Jeannie
Today, while listening to my MP3 player on random, I heard for the first time a song by Kool and the Gang from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack called "Open Sesame." After hearing this song, I have decided that Jeannie and I have to travel back in time and get married again so that this song can be our first dance at our wedding. It is truly a great song. How could I have overlooked it when I was looking for potential first dance songs? The chorus is "Get down with the genie." It's basically a song about a genie who does magical things, and every now and again the genie will shout out things like "Shazam!" or "Ala Kazaam!", and at one point in the song the genie declares, "I am the genie of sound!"
I will have to one day post this song so you can hear it cause it's really good.
I will have to one day post this song so you can hear it cause it's really good.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
"Don't be shame by reason of of your jang length" (sic)
I love the subject lines of the spams I get. That one was from Dr. Alberto Gilmore.
Is it better to give than to receive?
The receiving manager job at the B&N is going to be opening up again. I'm considering applying for it, just to shake things up a little bit. Plus, then I could hire back BJ when he moves back to Baltimore...
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Tom Waits is Awesome.
Listening to an interview with Tom Waits on NPR. He's pretty awesome.
Jeannie was slicing a jalapeno pepper and then got some of the oil in her eye. She was jumping around and whining like a little baby and then ended up pouring milk in her eye. That seemed to help.
I've been a total flake lately. I need to get my shit together.
I'm kicking the caffeine habit this weekend, as I seem to do about once a year. Caffeine is evil, I think. It turns me into a little bitch.
Tomorrow, rehearsal at HCCA. This week's gonna be a busy week, training some folks at work and then jetting to HCCA to finish up the set.
In my mind, me and the J-Dog are disappearing, running off to a deserted island. Waling on a lonely dark road into the woods. Getting on a plane and stepping off somewhere in the desert. Swimming in a lake somewhere where it's cold.
Jeannie was slicing a jalapeno pepper and then got some of the oil in her eye. She was jumping around and whining like a little baby and then ended up pouring milk in her eye. That seemed to help.
I've been a total flake lately. I need to get my shit together.
I'm kicking the caffeine habit this weekend, as I seem to do about once a year. Caffeine is evil, I think. It turns me into a little bitch.
Tomorrow, rehearsal at HCCA. This week's gonna be a busy week, training some folks at work and then jetting to HCCA to finish up the set.
In my mind, me and the J-Dog are disappearing, running off to a deserted island. Waling on a lonely dark road into the woods. Getting on a plane and stepping off somewhere in the desert. Swimming in a lake somewhere where it's cold.
Monday, January 21, 2008
The Water and the Mud, oh, The Water and the Mud.
Just got home from a meeting at Ian's place regarding the theatre company and our relatively immediate - slash - long term space needs. It was a good potluck dinner meeting, and while not a whole lot of really useful stuff came out of it, I think it at least got the ball rolling and planted some seeds in our heads.
Saturday night the J-Dog and I headed down to Pat and Teresa's cute new house outside of DC, and Pat's brother (Jake) and Jake's very pregnant wife (Carol) were there, and we had a tasty dinner of spaghetti and what I would say were Teresa's best meatballs ever. [actually, Teresa said they were her best, and while I agree that they were tasty meatballs, I've never had any of her other meatballs, and therefore can't really make the comparison. But I'll take her word for it and just say that they were her best meatballs ever] Then, after dinner we had what turned out to be quite a heated game of Phase 10, in which bad language was thrown around and I threatened to both divorce Jeannie and stick my thumb up Pat's butt. I am glad to report, though, that no threats (or curses) were made about Jake and Carol's unborn child (unlike some card games that I've heard about in the past). Anyway, the whole evening was just a damn good time, and it was nice to have a fun night playing cards and shooting the shit with a group of good folks.
My five days off work is over, and while I'm sad that it's over I have to say that I really enjoyed it. As previously reported, I've been feeling shitty and depressed lately, and after about day 3 of being away from work I started feeling more like myself again. So that is a good thing. I can now focus on getting the set for the show finished up, and not taking work too seriously, and life should be good in tha hood.
After reading about the poisonous chemicals (allegedly) leached by Nalgene bottles, Jeannie and I are pretty convinced that our future potential offspring will be blessed with a cornucopia of deformity and handicapped-ness.
Rumors in the air of a possible BJ visit in the foreseeable future...
Saturday night the J-Dog and I headed down to Pat and Teresa's cute new house outside of DC, and Pat's brother (Jake) and Jake's very pregnant wife (Carol) were there, and we had a tasty dinner of spaghetti and what I would say were Teresa's best meatballs ever. [actually, Teresa said they were her best, and while I agree that they were tasty meatballs, I've never had any of her other meatballs, and therefore can't really make the comparison. But I'll take her word for it and just say that they were her best meatballs ever] Then, after dinner we had what turned out to be quite a heated game of Phase 10, in which bad language was thrown around and I threatened to both divorce Jeannie and stick my thumb up Pat's butt. I am glad to report, though, that no threats (or curses) were made about Jake and Carol's unborn child (unlike some card games that I've heard about in the past). Anyway, the whole evening was just a damn good time, and it was nice to have a fun night playing cards and shooting the shit with a group of good folks.
My five days off work is over, and while I'm sad that it's over I have to say that I really enjoyed it. As previously reported, I've been feeling shitty and depressed lately, and after about day 3 of being away from work I started feeling more like myself again. So that is a good thing. I can now focus on getting the set for the show finished up, and not taking work too seriously, and life should be good in tha hood.
After reading about the poisonous chemicals (allegedly) leached by Nalgene bottles, Jeannie and I are pretty convinced that our future potential offspring will be blessed with a cornucopia of deformity and handicapped-ness.
Rumors in the air of a possible BJ visit in the foreseeable future...
Thursday, January 17, 2008
So Much To Say
So much has been going on since I last wrote...where to begin?
First of all, I'm on day 2 of a nice long 5 day stretch of days off. It all happened by accident, when somebody at the Noble wanted to pick up hours and I decided to give them some of my shifts and use personal time. So anyway, long story short, I've got all weekend off. Unfortunately, the J-Dog has to work on Saturday, elsewise we would get our asses on the highway and jet off to Ohio for a quick one.
So I spent all day yesterday working on the set for DOLL'S HOUSE out at HCCA. Unfortunately, there's no place indoors where we're currently allowed to do any building, so I ended up having to work outside on the parking lot. And doubly unfortunately, both of our jigsaws broke, and I forgot to bring our circular saw, so I ended up having to make all my cuts with a shitty hand saw. So the work was slow, and I got less done that I probably could have had all gone smoothly, but I got enough done to feel satisfied. Then I hung around rehearsal a little bit, and got to talk to Pat, which I enjoyed and which I have not had nearly enough of lately.
Other interesting news: my cousin Mark sent me a bunch of his songs. Most of them are just him and an acoustic guitar, sung into a tape recorder (or maybe a 4-track). I haven't listened to them all yet, but I did get a chance to play around with one of the songs this morning, and have posted the results. I think it turned out ok.
Also: my aunt called this evening to tell me that she and my uncle and another aunt and uncle are going to be in the DC area next week, so on Thursday I'm gonna try and head down there to spend the day with them. Should be a decent time.
I've been very happy with the CD's I've gotten lately. Here's a roundup:
1. Brian Eno, Before and After Science. A very classic "Eno" album, half composed of goofy, super catchy glam pop songs and half slow, dreamy synth songs. I only skip one song on the album, and it's a very short song. My favorite lyrics are from the song "Backwater":
2. White Williams, Smoke. Sounds like someone playing melted David Bowie records. There are a few songs that I skip on the CD, but overall, still pleased with the purchase.
3. Death Cab For Cutie, Transatlanticism. This album is a few years old, and I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I do, but there are a lot of really good songs on this album. Tracks 3 through 5 is my favorite three-song stretch that I've heard since the first three songs on the The Joshua Tree.
4. Radiohead, In Rainbows. I have mixed feelings towards Radiohead. Usually I end up skipping half the songs on their albums and absolutely adoring the other half. With this record, I only end up skipping about 30%, and the other 70% is really solid. On about every third Radiohead album, they end up writing the perfect song, and on this one I think they nail it with "All I Need".
Tonight Jeannie cough-puked tea on the couch and floor. It really wasn't a puke, it was a cough, but it looked like a puke.
It snowed today! After working on music this morning, I drove up to Towson to go to a going-away party for Marlene (who is one of the good managers at the B&N and who is leaving to go to the Bel Air store. Bel Air, Maryland. Not Bel Air, Will Smith.), and when I got to Towson (normally a 20 minute trip that took me an hour today in the snow) I found out that they had canceled the party. So I drove back home, and it took me another hour to get home. People in Baltimore just don't know how to drive in the snow (or rain). But it was pretty. I was on North Charles up near Towson, where it's kinda woodsy, and all the trees were white with snow, and it was pretty perfect. Plus, I got an extra long time to listen to Brian Eno in the car, which isn't a bad thing.
Tomorrow: more work on the set. I gotta find or build a bookshelf and then start working on the window unit. Maybe a trip to Baltimore Stage Lighting, too.
First of all, I'm on day 2 of a nice long 5 day stretch of days off. It all happened by accident, when somebody at the Noble wanted to pick up hours and I decided to give them some of my shifts and use personal time. So anyway, long story short, I've got all weekend off. Unfortunately, the J-Dog has to work on Saturday, elsewise we would get our asses on the highway and jet off to Ohio for a quick one.
So I spent all day yesterday working on the set for DOLL'S HOUSE out at HCCA. Unfortunately, there's no place indoors where we're currently allowed to do any building, so I ended up having to work outside on the parking lot. And doubly unfortunately, both of our jigsaws broke, and I forgot to bring our circular saw, so I ended up having to make all my cuts with a shitty hand saw. So the work was slow, and I got less done that I probably could have had all gone smoothly, but I got enough done to feel satisfied. Then I hung around rehearsal a little bit, and got to talk to Pat, which I enjoyed and which I have not had nearly enough of lately.
Other interesting news: my cousin Mark sent me a bunch of his songs. Most of them are just him and an acoustic guitar, sung into a tape recorder (or maybe a 4-track). I haven't listened to them all yet, but I did get a chance to play around with one of the songs this morning, and have posted the results. I think it turned out ok.
Also: my aunt called this evening to tell me that she and my uncle and another aunt and uncle are going to be in the DC area next week, so on Thursday I'm gonna try and head down there to spend the day with them. Should be a decent time.
I've been very happy with the CD's I've gotten lately. Here's a roundup:
1. Brian Eno, Before and After Science. A very classic "Eno" album, half composed of goofy, super catchy glam pop songs and half slow, dreamy synth songs. I only skip one song on the album, and it's a very short song. My favorite lyrics are from the song "Backwater":
But If You Study the Logistics
And Heuristics of the Mystics
You Will Find That Their Minds Rarely Move in a Line
So It's Much More Realistic
To Abandon Such Ballistics
And Resign to Be Trapped On a Leaf in a Vine.
2. White Williams, Smoke. Sounds like someone playing melted David Bowie records. There are a few songs that I skip on the CD, but overall, still pleased with the purchase.
3. Death Cab For Cutie, Transatlanticism. This album is a few years old, and I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I do, but there are a lot of really good songs on this album. Tracks 3 through 5 is my favorite three-song stretch that I've heard since the first three songs on the The Joshua Tree.
4. Radiohead, In Rainbows. I have mixed feelings towards Radiohead. Usually I end up skipping half the songs on their albums and absolutely adoring the other half. With this record, I only end up skipping about 30%, and the other 70% is really solid. On about every third Radiohead album, they end up writing the perfect song, and on this one I think they nail it with "All I Need".
Tonight Jeannie cough-puked tea on the couch and floor. It really wasn't a puke, it was a cough, but it looked like a puke.
It snowed today! After working on music this morning, I drove up to Towson to go to a going-away party for Marlene (who is one of the good managers at the B&N and who is leaving to go to the Bel Air store. Bel Air, Maryland. Not Bel Air, Will Smith.), and when I got to Towson (normally a 20 minute trip that took me an hour today in the snow) I found out that they had canceled the party. So I drove back home, and it took me another hour to get home. People in Baltimore just don't know how to drive in the snow (or rain). But it was pretty. I was on North Charles up near Towson, where it's kinda woodsy, and all the trees were white with snow, and it was pretty perfect. Plus, I got an extra long time to listen to Brian Eno in the car, which isn't a bad thing.
Tomorrow: more work on the set. I gotta find or build a bookshelf and then start working on the window unit. Maybe a trip to Baltimore Stage Lighting, too.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Dick Dick Dick Dock
Dick Dick Dick Dock is the new band name that I came up with last night for maybe one day when I have a band. I think I will start storing band names on this here blog. Past band names include Paco and the Shitballs, and Jesus and the Rhythm Methodists. I have since found out, however, that the Rhythm Methodists is a fairly common band name. My Rhythm Methodists, though, was gonna be a big soul band with horns and shit.
Last night Jeannie and I went to the library downtown but it was closed. So then we went to Fells Point, where I bought 2 cd's from The Sound Garden. We then went to the Duclaw (which is now smoke free! And although I am a huge fan of smoking and I luv it, luv it, luv it, and although I think a smoking ban is totally bullshit and a violation of my [and most especially bar-owners'] muthaf@#$kin' rights, I have to say it was pretty awesome going to a bar and coming home smelling not like shit. Or at least no more like shit than I normally smell.), and had beers. Which was fun. The 2 CD's I bought were Before and After Science, by Brian Eno, and Smoke by White Williams. I listened to both CD's a bunch today and am enjoying them both very much. They go together very well. Smoke sounds kind of like an album that Brian Eno might make if he were just starting out today, I think. Although that's not really an original thought, because I read it in a review and that's what made me get the album in the first place.
I still seem to be existing in a cloud of self-pity. "I'm tired of my job...", "I don't have any friends...", blah blah blah. It's boring to write about and I'm sure it's boring to read about and it's boring to listen to. But nonetheless, it is what I'm thinking and feeling. Although over the last couple of days my active hatred of the job has settled into more of a deadening boredom. Which I think I can deal with. I'm usually pretty good at handling boredom.
Tomorrow morning I'm gonna make me some bacon n' schmeggs, and read some Great Expectations, and then go to work.
Last night Jeannie and I went to the library downtown but it was closed. So then we went to Fells Point, where I bought 2 cd's from The Sound Garden. We then went to the Duclaw (which is now smoke free! And although I am a huge fan of smoking and I luv it, luv it, luv it, and although I think a smoking ban is totally bullshit and a violation of my [and most especially bar-owners'] muthaf@#$kin' rights, I have to say it was pretty awesome going to a bar and coming home smelling not like shit. Or at least no more like shit than I normally smell.), and had beers. Which was fun. The 2 CD's I bought were Before and After Science, by Brian Eno, and Smoke by White Williams. I listened to both CD's a bunch today and am enjoying them both very much. They go together very well. Smoke sounds kind of like an album that Brian Eno might make if he were just starting out today, I think. Although that's not really an original thought, because I read it in a review and that's what made me get the album in the first place.
I still seem to be existing in a cloud of self-pity. "I'm tired of my job...", "I don't have any friends...", blah blah blah. It's boring to write about and I'm sure it's boring to read about and it's boring to listen to. But nonetheless, it is what I'm thinking and feeling. Although over the last couple of days my active hatred of the job has settled into more of a deadening boredom. Which I think I can deal with. I'm usually pretty good at handling boredom.
Tomorrow morning I'm gonna make me some bacon n' schmeggs, and read some Great Expectations, and then go to work.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
I-Haul
This morning I drove out to Ellicott City to rent a truck so I could pick up the doors and windows and lumber for the DOLL'S HOUSE. For some reason, as I drove out through Ellicott City, I found myself missing Pat and BJ a lot. It's kinda put me in a bit of a funk. I miss my friends and I feel like Baltimore just feels kinda empty. So...I got some good stuff done today (and it was a beautiful day, perfect for driving around with a window down) but I feel kinda crappy nonetheless.
I was contemplating calling out sick tomorrow, but I don't think I'm going to.
My new recording equipment arrived, and I think that the new preamp will be nice, but I'm not sure how much I'll use the new mic. Nonetheless, probably everybody should have a Shure SM58 in their bag of shit.
Hmmm. Just haven't felt like writing much lately.
I was contemplating calling out sick tomorrow, but I don't think I'm going to.
My new recording equipment arrived, and I think that the new preamp will be nice, but I'm not sure how much I'll use the new mic. Nonetheless, probably everybody should have a Shure SM58 in their bag of shit.
Hmmm. Just haven't felt like writing much lately.
Friday, January 04, 2008
MuthaFuckabee
I would like to take this opportunity to voice my support for Mike Huckabee, who totally kicked ass in last night's Iowa caucus. The Iowa caucus is, by the way, my favorite caucus. With the exception, of course, of the Black caucus. The Black caucus is definitely my favorite caucus. But the Iowa caucus is a pretty good caucus, too, as far as caucuses go.
When the future movie is made of president Huckabee's life, I hope he is played by
two time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey.
This is why Mike Huckabee gets my vote and my lifelong allegiance:
But enough about Mike Huckabee, my choice for future President of the United States of America. The real issue at hand is that my wife is sick. She has a cold and she hasn't slept for four (4) nights. I love my wife and I want her to get better. Pray for her, Mike Huckabee!
Sorry. Don't know why Huckabee is on the brain tonight. I just think that pretty much everything about him is funny.
Seriously, though, the J-Dog is illin'.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
This is not my beautiful wife
I have been feeling a bit out of it lately, been feeling not like myself. I think this is a by-product of Christmas. I seem to recall feeling similar last year. Basically, things get all crazy for awhile and I get used to being in a totally work-oriented mode and I kinda get a little adrenaline rush and then we rush out of town and then rush back and I work a bunch to get things back to normal at work and then once everything gets kinda settled I'm just not really sure what's going on. So that's where I am now. But here's a few things that I'm sure of:
1. I'm excited by the idea of working on my cousin Mark's songs. I have always longed for someone who would write all the material and then I just get to play and record it. I think that that's pretty much exactly what this project will be like. I remember hearing a couple of his songs back when I was around 12 years old and I liked them then, so hopefully I'll still like them.
2. I enjoyed the hike the other day with Katie and me wife. And I enjoyed New Years Eve.
3. I like the way my new T-Shirt that says "Oh, by the way...I'M AWESOME" (that I got as a secret Santa gift) looks underneath my blue plaid lumberjack shirt. It's very hipster.
4. I need to spend like, a month alone with the Jeanners. Traveling. I feel like we haven't gotten to have any fun adventures in awhile.
5. I bought a new microphone and new preamp today. The microphone is just a good ol' Shure SM58, which I'm kinda excited about because I remember vocals being much easier to record before I had a fancy microphone. So hopefully if the new equipment makes recording vocals a lot easier, I'll record a lot more songs with vocals again.
6. I must get in touch with Sean about the planned trip to Alaska. I have been looking for good deals on flights, and the price has gone down slightly over the last month, but I must find out if there are any new developments on his end.
7. I need to actually go to the Loading Dock and look for some good doors and door frames for the set for DOLLS HOUSE. If I go there and they don't have doors and door frames, then I'm kinda screwed. Or at least I'll have more work to do than I originally planned. And, once I get the doors in hand, I can stop thinking/worrying about them.
8. It's bedtime. I gotsta get up at 5:45 tomorrow morning.
1. I'm excited by the idea of working on my cousin Mark's songs. I have always longed for someone who would write all the material and then I just get to play and record it. I think that that's pretty much exactly what this project will be like. I remember hearing a couple of his songs back when I was around 12 years old and I liked them then, so hopefully I'll still like them.
2. I enjoyed the hike the other day with Katie and me wife. And I enjoyed New Years Eve.
3. I like the way my new T-Shirt that says "Oh, by the way...I'M AWESOME" (that I got as a secret Santa gift) looks underneath my blue plaid lumberjack shirt. It's very hipster.
4. I need to spend like, a month alone with the Jeanners. Traveling. I feel like we haven't gotten to have any fun adventures in awhile.
5. I bought a new microphone and new preamp today. The microphone is just a good ol' Shure SM58, which I'm kinda excited about because I remember vocals being much easier to record before I had a fancy microphone. So hopefully if the new equipment makes recording vocals a lot easier, I'll record a lot more songs with vocals again.
6. I must get in touch with Sean about the planned trip to Alaska. I have been looking for good deals on flights, and the price has gone down slightly over the last month, but I must find out if there are any new developments on his end.
7. I need to actually go to the Loading Dock and look for some good doors and door frames for the set for DOLLS HOUSE. If I go there and they don't have doors and door frames, then I'm kinda screwed. Or at least I'll have more work to do than I originally planned. And, once I get the doors in hand, I can stop thinking/worrying about them.
8. It's bedtime. I gotsta get up at 5:45 tomorrow morning.
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