Don't Bring Home Herpes

Well, the J-Dog was home for one day, and now she is back out of town, this time in Talladega, Alabama. She'll be gone till Friday. For work. So she says. I say it smells like a big sweaty man affair to me.

It was good to see her while she was here, though. It's really quite boring and depressing being home without her. On Friday and Saturday I watched all three Back to the Future movies. BTTF #2 did not hold up as well as I remembered, even though the second half was much better than the first half. Still, though, I always judge how bad the world is getting by how much things look like the bizarro 1985 where everything was seedy and casino-like and gangs of bikers ravaged the city and set everything on fire. Sometimes the world seems a lot like that and sometimes not as much.

At the moment there are three shitty, five-dollar doors sitting in the living room that are waiting to be put into some flats that haven't been built yet. For my friend Tami's show. Tomorrow I meet with her after work to figure out exactly how the set should work. Then Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I'll build shit.

I should really go to bed, as I have to get up early tomorrow. But I'm not tired. I will regret this tomorrow.

Oh-so-close to being done with IJ. Probably less than 30 pages. I think I'm going to read the original "scroll version" of 'On the Road' next. Then "The Corrections".

That's about it for now, I guess. Looking forward to this week being over...

Squat 'er on the Water

It's been a long time since I last wrote. Things have been a bit busy around here. I find that bullet points are handy for bringing everything up to speed:

* A friend of the Jeanners' from college passed away on Sunday from breast cancer. A terrible, terrible tragedy. She was our age, 33-ish, with two small daughters. The Jeanners is (understandably) pretty bummed and flying to St. Louis tonight after work for the funeral tomorrow.

* House work is on hold for two weeks because I'm currently working on the set for the CSC show at Goucher College (which is tomorrow), and then next week the Jeanners is out-of-town at a training/conference thingie in either Alabama, Arkansas, or Georgia. I don't think it's Georgia, though. Anyway, between her unexpected trip to St. Louis and the work trip, she'll be gone almost a week and a half. Sucky. However, I will be busy while she's gone because I have agreed to half-design/build a set for my friend Tami's middle-school production of 'A Raisin in the Sun.' Should be relatively easy, but time-consuming nonetheless.

* Then we go to Ohio, then Thanksgiving, then work gets busy, and then there's another CSC show at a high school somewheres.

* I've been able to build the set for CSC at home. It's been really nice having somewhere to build and not be working outside or on a parking lot somewhere.

* I have finished with the stripping/sanding of the doors for our future bedroom. I'm tired of doors, and I'm gonna take a little break before starting on the doors for the other bedrooms and the linen closet. The last door was a real pain to work on. The paint DID NOT want to come off. At one point I actually said to the paint "The power of Christ compels you to come off this door!" It did not seem to help. The only thing that did seem to help was using about 20 sanding discs and just sanding the hell out of it.

* I am hungry. I should probably have some dinner.

* Almost done with Infinite Jest. About 150 pages to go. So good. Next up: The Corrections.

* Been working on music at night when I get the chance. Pretty abysmal results.

Solo Banjo

Sheesh, it's nine-thirty already. And here I was gonna get an early start to the day. I just finished a tasty day-off breakfast of eggs, fauxsage (I just coined that expression, perhaps? Must google it now), biscuits, and juice. I have been very motivated and hard-working lately, and I hope that today will continue that trend. The Jeanners and I started drywalling in the bedroom (oo la la!) last weekend, and today I would like to drywall the linen closet. I have not done any solo drywalling before, though, so I hope it works out OK. I picked the linen closet because I figured that the drywall pieces would be small enough for me to maneuver them by myself. We shall see.

Apparently, I did not coin fauxsage. Balls.

Things I have realized lately:

1. I've been spending a lot of time alone. I enjoy spending time alone.

2. Really loud music makes nearly everything better. Work ceases to be work when you are listening to really loud music.

Last night Jerns and I went on a really nice long walk. Talked about all sorts of shit.

Karista bought a horse.

The remount of Hamlet at Goucher College is approaching rapidly, and I have done no prep for it. Must find out what Ian wants for a set. And then build it.

It was 56 degrees when I woke up this morning. Inside.

We're going to Ohio around Thanksgiving this year. Can't freakin' wait. It's been a long time since we've seen our friends Ye Olde Schluetermetz,' and the time has come for some reacquaintancing. Mashers, G&T's, Bowls of Meat, Trash Talk, Spades/Phase 10, here we come!

Alright. Procrastination over. To the linen closet with me!

"...As lucky as lucky could be..."

Do you like looking up chimneys? Then you are sure to enjoy this post:







I like the last one the best because 1) it was taken on a rainy day (today), and there's not as much water coming down the chimney as in the 2nd one, which was taken on a rainy day a week or so ago, before I did some work on the chimney; and 2) there's a cricket hiding somewhere in the picture. The first person who finds it gets a gold star and a bucket full of chimney water.

The Jeanners is not home tonight, and won't be home til late, which means I am left to my own devices. How I do I spend an evening alone? Eating burritos and Guinness and listening to music really loud, apparently. I am considering working on some tunes tonight, although not feling very inspired. At some point, I should swing by the bank and deposit some checks into senor ATM. "Senor" is supposed to be spanish and should have a tilde (~) over the 'N', but I can't figure out how to do that.

Is today Wednesday or Thursday? Whatever day it is, it's my dad's birthday. Thanks to my brother for calling me on the phone and reminding me because I had straight up forgot. It's because I've had nothing on the brain lately but housework and training a douchebag from another store at work. The guy wasn't really a douchebag, but anybody who makes me step outside my daily routine at work gets slapped with a fun new nickname. Anyway, sorry I forgot your birthday, Pop. I love you! If you're reading this, congrats on your advanced navigation of the Internet!

The house is quiet, and most of the lights are off, except for two little lamps on either side of the bed (which is unfortunately still in the dining room so I can see them from where I'm sitting in the living room), and I think the lighting is probably best described as 'soft.' It's probably not the best for the ol' eyeballs, but I've always preferred a good, dim, softly lit room to a bright one. A Brian Eno song just came on, and I turned the receiver up from 17 to 21. I am considering going downstairs to trim my moustache so it stops hanging over my lips. Also need to take laundry out of the dryer and put it away.

A month or so ago I bought an amber LED bulb to put in our front-door light so that it wouldn't attract bugs. During the summer, whenever I would leave for work in the morning and the old porch light was still on I'd have to walk through a swarm of franticly wheeling and diving moths.

I really should go by the bank.

The first chimney pic, by the way, was taken on a dry day, and it's my control picture. When the rainy day pics look like that one, then I'll be happy.

Seriously, have you found Goldbug yet?

In my skin-tight jeans

It's about 10:30 in the morning, and I just finished a tasty breakfast of black beans, salsa, fried eggs and greek-style yogurt. All mashed and mushed up together in a bowl. I'm listening to a couple of Tom Waits albums, shotgunned together. Just finished swordfishtrombones and have moved on to Nighthawks at the Diner. It's gotten cold in the house over the last couple-a days, and I've got my brown stocking cap on, maybe until March or April. The mountain man beard is coming back in nicely, thank you very much.

I've got two days off in a row, which hasn't happened for quite awhile, and I have to say that I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do. I could definitely start sanding the door that I finished stripping the other day, or I could work on some music, or I could listen to Tom Waits and play Civilization III all day. I could go up on the roof and see why we still have water coming in around the chimney. I should probably brush my teeth. Take a shower. Who knows how the next 48 hours will roll by...

The Jerns has been putting in some serious hours at work for the last week or so. Haven't seen her a ton. But Jimmy Carter was there yesterday, and things went well, so she might get to come home earlier now. Maybe even get a day off here or there.

The J-Dog has gotten in the habit of listening to a radio station called 104.3 on the way to work, and 104.3 plays top-40 party dance fluff. She (J-Dog) says it helps pump her up for the work day, and then at the end of the day it helps get the work day out of her head. Well, in my car most of the buttons on the radio don't work, and as a result there are 3 stations that I'm able to park the receiver on, and one of the stations is 104.3. I have to say, I've gotten a little hooked on it. I swear to god, every time I get in my car, they are playing Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream." Every time. They also play a lot of Ke$ha, and a song called "I Like That," by Static Revenger and Richard Vission (ft. Luciana). As well as Rihanna, Eminem, and "Airplanes," by B.O.B (ft. Hayley Williams [from Paramore]). I haven't really listened to Top-40 radio since my public school days in, like 8th grade. It makes me feel good and bad at the same time. Much like eating 10 or 12 rolls of SMARTIES does. It gives some little buried part of your brain a little buzz, and makes the rest of your body feel like it is filled with ashes and mud and bile.

Anyway, the world is large, and there's definitely a place for pop music in it, but I think my diet needs to be based on other things. Eggs and rice and Tom Waits and wood and fire and gin.

I've been enjoying my new glasses. The Jeanners has been telling me she likes them (which I hope is true), and it's been really interesting seeing the world through clean lenses. Everything seems crisp and fresh and slightly wet. And it's been pretty nice having the prescription sunglasses, too.

My right foot is asleep.

The Jeanners is working late tonight, a result of Jimmy Carter's expected visit to her place of employment next Tuesday. Damn you, Jimmy Carter! As a result, I've had the evening all to my lonesome, and I have spent it eating cheeseritos (just cheese), drinking Blue Moon, and reading old e-mails from 2002. Reading the e-mails made me nostalgic for the days when I used to send and receive e-mails from folks that I cared about, but then I remembered that one reason that I started writing this blog was that I was tired of writing the same e-mail to like 5 or 6 different people, filling in everybody on what's been going on. So I guess I shouldn't be nostalgic, although the blog is definitely much more of a one-way street, not as much feedback coming back (except PKP telling me that he didn't like Infinite Jest -- YOU FOOL!).

Another thing I noticed from reading those e-mails was that recording songs was a really big part of my life then. Definitely less so now, but I've still been tinkering around every now and again. I guess the difference now is that the stuff I tinker around on these days rarely develops into anything listenable.

I had the day off work today, and it was a pretty productive day -- got up around 8:30, went to the Home Depot, hit the gym, hit the grocery store, came home and caulked the top of our chimney (we had some water coming down the chimney during the last day or two of torrential downpours), went back to the Home Depot, swapped out some electrical boxes that weren't going to work, and then stripped one side of a door. I think I've gotten a lot better at stripping. The process hasn't been nearly as painful as it was last winter when we were stripping the bathroom trim and door.

Read on the internet a rumor that U2 might be playing Baltimore in June. I'm a sucker, and I'll probably end up going, and I'll probably end up standing in line for a very long time and getting a very good spot in the crowd. I am a sucker.

I am missing Jerns. She has been working a lot lately, and working very hard, and she's been ill. Still though, when we get to hang out it's been nice and fun, and last night before we went to bed we had a little sing-a-long, and I was strumming the guitar and laying in bed and we were singing.

My mom's birthday is either tomorrow or Sunday. I can never remember which. Either way, the card's been mailed and my rear is pleasantly covered.

Electric Avenue

After a weekend of having big plans but not actually getting much done, the Jeanners and I finally were able to get crackin' on some housework yesterday afternoon. We were able to run a good portion of the new wiring in our future bedroom.



One step closer to putting up drywall. We've still got a bit more wire to run (lights, ceiling fan) and then we can start drywalling. Woo-Hoo! This week, I'll be doing more stripping after work, so that once we've got everything drywalled we can move right into putting up trim and doors and stuff.



Last night I came up with a new nickname for the J-Dog: Jerns. It doesn't mean anything, but I like the way it sounds. So now I have to spend the next few days calling her Jerns all the time so that it sticks.

We've been catching mice by the hatful lately. Not literally in a hat, it's just an expression. Ok, maybe it's not an expression but it is now. Anyway, you know what I mean. The other day we caught two baby mice in the same spring-activated-swift-metal-bar-snaps-down type trap, the logistics of which I'm still having trouble figuring out. Did they both happen upon the trap at the exact same time? Was one mouse playing a practical joke that went horribly awry? We'll never know. Anyway, I feel more than a tinge of guilt when dumping dead mice into the trash. I really don't like killing things. Jerns has even gotten me to the point where I don't step on crickets anymore (there's been numerous crickets in the house, too, by the way - annoying as fuck) but rather scoop them up an take them outside. I do, though, still enjoy killing mosquitoes because I HATE MOSQUITOES. Mainly because mosquitoes seem to love me. I HATE MOSQUITOES.

Stripping

My project for the week has been stripping paint off of window trim that we will then put back up on newly-drywalled (once we drywall them) walls and repaint. It has led to me posting numerous "stripping" and "stripper" puns in my Facebook status. I actually had to stop myself from doing it again and am making myself write this post instead. The world only needs so many stripper puns before you become "that guy." It's actually a job that I don't mind too much. I'm down in the basement, and I've got the mp3 player fired up, and I've got a little system going, and the stripper smells nicely like orange sherbet while it slowly kills my remaining brain cells. And it's giving me a nice sense of accomplishment for the week, like the hours that fall between the time I get home from work and the time Jeannie gets home from work haven't completely gotten squandered on baths, tangrams, the internet, and Infinite Jest. Got about 80 or so pages read at work today, by the way.

Last night I headed to an open rehearsal for TITUS. Just to see how it's coming along, and because usually I enjoy watching a mid-to-late rehearsal more than a final performance. Things usually seem a lot less fake. To me. Anyway, I'd never read the play, so I was seeing it with virgin eyes, and while I'd say that the play as a whole is not one of Shakespeare's most, uh, sublime works, there's definitely a few speeches in there that are pretty beautiful. And the gory blood-type special effects that folks have been working on look like they'll be pretty amazing, especially in such close quarters.

What else?

I might try and convince the Jeanners to go out for some greek food for din-din.

I have come close to pooping in my pants/shorts several times during the last week.

Jerry Orbach's Cousin came into the store the other day. He made sure that Jerry Orbach (and the fact that he was Jerry Orbach's Cousin) casually came up in the conversation, as he always does.

Northwest Passage

Took the ol' bike out for a spin after work today, and I think I've found a decent route to work that's not too terribly hilly and not too long. It took me about an hour to get there and an hour to get home. So perhaps I shall start biking to work again in the near future. Getting a two-hour workout in under the disguise of transportation is a pretty decent thing, I think.

I got me some new glasses last night, as my old glasses had broken and were being held together by superglue, or, as the brand we bought was called, "future glue." My old glasses also had lenses that had yellowed and were so scratched and generally fucked that the world that I saw through them had ceased to resemble what the real world in front of my face actually looked like. Plus, as I mentioned before, they finally broke. So I got new glasses. And the place where I bought them was having a "Buy One Pair, Get a Second Pair Free" sale (what we at the B&N call a BOGO), so I also now own a pair of prescription sunglasses. I picked out a pair of frames for the sunglasses that I hoped would make me look like Ray Charles, but I'm not quite sure I've achieved the look. I did, however, while wearing the sunglasses, make Jeannie lead me out of the mall as though I was blind. She sucked at it. She let me walk into trashcans in the middle of the mall thoroughfare and all sorts of shit. I hope I never actually go blind. So anyway, if the next time you see me I seem somehow cooler and you can't quite put your finger on what might be causing the surge of additional coolness, it's probably the prescription sunglasses that I'm wearing.

The doctor that gave me my physical called the other day and left a message with the results of my bloodwork. She said my cholesterol looks 'terrific' but that I'm low in Vitamin D. Fuck her.

My mouth tastes terrible.

I'm about halfway into Infinite Jest. Boy, it's good. I'm nearing the part where it all starts to just roll downhill.

The Jeanners and I have both been feeling an autumnal burst of home-improvement motivation. I think we're gonna get some good shit done in the next month or two. Getting geared up for a semi-major roof/chimney repair and waiting for some electrical-planning advice from my super good electrical engineer and all-around smart guy brother-in-law, Tom.

Wizard is about to die.

The title of this post is a reference to the 1980's video game 'GAUNTLET.' Check it out.

My parents were here this past weekend. It was going along fine until yesterday. We did some stuff around the house, we took a day trip to Gettysburg, we played some cards, ate some meals, etc. And pretty much most of the weekend my mom was making little "suggestions" of things we (Jeannie and I) could do around the house, or things that we could do to take better care of our possessions. After smiling and nodding or lightly telling her that we wouldn't be heeding her suggestions through most of the weekend, yesterday I had about as much as I could take and I really blew up at her. I don't blow up well. I'm not really a blow-up type of guy. I usually hold stuff in pretty well and it takes about 10-18 years before it builds up enough to where I blow up. So anyway, I blubbered and yelled awhile. Then a large tree branch fell outside in the street so Jeannie and I my dad and I went and cut it up. Then my mom and dad went to dinner. Then we all played cards. Then they left this morning. I've never been so relieved to have them leave before. I'm usually ready to get back to regular life by the end of their visits, but this time I was, like, do-a-little-dance happy to see them (her) leave. I feel bad for my dad who it seemed understood where I was coming from and why I blew up and who was generally helpful and fun to be around all weekend. Anyway, that's been occupying my headspace all day and it probably will for awhile. They're continuing their trip down to North Carolina and get back to St. Louis on Friday.

I went to the doctor for a physical today for the first time in a very long time. It was very fast. After all the paperwork and vital-signs-taking was done, she came in, looked in my eyes, looked down my throat, whacked my knees, listened to my breathing, listened to my heart, felt my tummy, felt my throat, rummaged around my junk, and I was out the door. At one point, she told me I have a beautiful body.

We have lots of tree rubble in our yard, to be chopped up and bundled. It's probably how I will be spending my afternoons. I went out this evening to do a little bundling, but the mosquitoes were out in full force. I will be glad as the weather gets colder and the mosquitoes go away.

One sentence in this post is a lie. Can you spot it?

Biker's Ass

It's been awhile since I've signed in to write in the ol' blog and had nothing to write about. I guess lately I've been waiting until something interesting happens before I would sit down to write. Not that you could tell. But not tonight. I just got home from work, and people were a bit crazy at the ol' Nobes tonight. Large crowds of loud, unruly teens. Damn kids. Damn back to school time, when the weather's still nice enough that teens roam and terrorize on a Friday night. Although it's Saturday night. Nonetheless, you get the picture.

This week, I got my bike out of the basement and got it back in working condition. After the great Weight Loss Extravaganza of 2008, my bike sat outside for a year and a half and got rained, iced, and snowed on. And probably peed on by some of the drunks in Charles Village, who knows. So since we moved into the house, I've had it down in the basement, but the other day I got it out, dusted it off, put some air in the tires and lubed up Mr. Chain, and took it out for a spin. I was attempting to find a good route from our place to my place of employment, and I was relatively unsuccessful. I mean, I eventually made it to work, but it took like an hour and a half, and the way I took was full of long, gradual hills, and it just generally sucked. And then on the way home I got a flat tire, so I ended up having to walk my bike the last 2 miles or so. So although it sucked, it did conjure a little bit of bike fever back in me, and I have ordered new tires and tubes on the internet, and I think I have found a better route. So be on the lookout for a pale, sweaty, slow biker in a neighborhood near you. Soon. By the way, my bike is a Huffy.

The weather here was beautiful today. We were supposed to get some rain from hurricane earl, but all we got was a bit of wind last night and this morning. But seriously - sunny, cool, and low humidity with a nice big breeze. Sat out on the porch with the Jeanners before work today and boy, did it make me want to not go to work.

The parents are arriving in T-minus 5 days.

Karaoke Neck

It's been a decent week. Had changeover at work today, which means that work hasn't been mind-meltingly boring for the past week, and it won't be mind-meltingly boring for the next week, and then I'll have two weeks of mind-melting boringness before the next changeover prep work starts.

Had a good weekend. On Saturday CSC had its annual picnic/strategy meeting, and it was a beautiful day to sit outside. Plus, a few of us who are guitar players brought guitars, and though we've been talking for a long time about getting together and playing, we'd never actually been able to coordinate our schedules enough to get together and play before Saturday. So we sat outside as it got dark and played for a few hours. It's been a long time since I've played that long (my fingers were hurting), and an even longer time since I've played with other people. It felt pretty good. Unfortunately, sitting outside for that long left me vulnerable to a series of attacks from some mutant-strain of mosquitoes that live in Lesley's backyard, and I have been one hell of an itchy bastard ever since.

After the get-together on Saturday, Jeannie and I ended up going to the hotel bar at the Ramada Inn at Joppa and Loch Raven, where a coworker of hers who is moving to Canada was having a little going-away shindig. Karaoke was involved. It was a little bit like an urban version of Kirksville karaoke, in that it was an interesting mix of folks and everybody seemed to get along and not give a shit about what they looked/sounded like. I sang karaoke once right after we moved to Baltimore, and it wasn't that great an experience, so I haven't sung since. Saturday night, though, felt quite a bit like the karaoke days of old. It took me a couple of songs to get warmed up, but by my 4th song ("Jump") I was feeling un-self-conscious enough to flail around a little bit. I also learned that "Punk Rock Girl" is one hell of a good karaoke song. It's got a nice strong ending, and not much down time. Unfortunately, I have become reacquainted with the tremendously sore neck/back that I used to get all the time after singing karaoke or doing any sort of head-banging. I'm starting to feel normal again, though. Anyway, they do karaoke there on Thursday and Saturday nights, so next time anybody feels like visiting B-more, bring your drinky singin' pants.

The Jeanners' new Americorps recruits started today. I'm waiting for her to get home so I can hear how her day went. Should we go out to eat?

Halorama. Halation.

News, bullet-point style.

* PKP & T have birthed their second child, a masculine child. Well, T specifically did the birthing. PKP, I assume, watched. Or perhaps occupied and entertained their #1 masculine child. Who knows. Regardless, #2 child arrived a month early, and after a little bit of time in the NICU, everyone is doing well. They named the boy Henry, but don't call him that cause he goes by Hal. I can only assume that because they named the boy after the main character (or at least the character I feel is the main character) of Infinite Jest that Pat is planning on a well-deserved second attempt on the book sometime in the near future.

* Speaking of, I am in the midst of an IJ re-read myself. A little over 200 pages in. The is probably my 4th or 5th full re-read of the book, and I have experienced no diminishing returns. If anything, the opposite. Amazing. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Like jumping into the ocean when you haven't been to the ocean in awhile.

* Bought tickets to see Greg Brown up at the Recher Theater in September. Right next door to where I work! Pretty exciting stuff. Haven't seen him live since March of 1999, when I saw him in Vineland, NJ and Easton, MD on spring break with Seanyboy.

* Work is exceptionally slow. Scarily slow.

* The Jeanners and I did some good work this past weekend. Ripping out some of the existing electrical system, mapping out what remains of the existing electrical system, and getting ready to run some new electrical business in our future bedroom. We're also getting ready to submit some paperwork for some loans and grants and whatnot. Getting quotes for insulation and porch work, etc. Fun stuff.

* My folks are going to some out for a visit in early September. Should be a good time. We'll hang out a bit, maybe do a little work around the house (cut down more trees?), and head out for a day trip somewhere. We usually enjoy their visits quite a bit.

33 sucks so far.

I've been feeling poorly lately. I thought I might have cancer because one of the lymph nodes in my neck has been swollen and painful and I haven't really had any other symptoms that might suggest a cold or infection or anything. But after a phone call with my sister (a longtime nurse) last night, she assured me that it is most likely not cancer and that I don't need to move up a doctor's appointment that I currently have scheduled for mid-September. Just the fact that I scheduled a doctor's appointment should be proof enough that I was concerned, as I have not been to a doctor for over 10 years. I tend to not trust situations in which you pay a single person to discover, diagnose, and fix a particular problem. Plus, I think I have just inherited my dad's views towards bodily preventative maintenance.

The Jeanners and I had a fun, semi-impromptu date night on Tuesday after discovering that a local movie theater (the rotunda) is offering $5 movies on Tuesday nights. They were showing Inception, about which I had been on the receiving end of so much Facebook hype that I was interesting in seeing if it was any good, and the Jeanners was, too (and it ain't too often that the J-Dog is interested in an even borderline sci-fi type movie), so we decided to go see it. Picked up some Chipotle and met the J-Dog at the theater, and although we both agreed that it did not live up to the hype, we both had a real good time and thought it was worth the ten bucks.

I'm thinking of re-growing the mountain man beard.

We got some work done on our chimney on Monday, so now when it rains, rain doesn't come into our living room. At least not through the chimney. Yay!

I am finishing up a long stretch of work. Tomorrow will be the 12th (and final) day in a row without a day off. I've been doing that to myself too often lately, but it really helps me get in a full 40-hour week without cutting anybody else's hours.

Just waiting for Jeannie to get home from work/gym. (translation: affair.) Cooked up some quinoa salad this afternoon, and I was planning on some fake burgers to go along with it but I think we might be out of them.

Jesus Year

Yesterday I turned 33, Jesus' age when he died. Therefore, the coming year will be my Jesus year. Whatever that means.

I worked during the day, then the Jeanners and I headed downtown for a mediocre Chinese meal in a cool building. On the way home, we stopped in at a little dinner get-together that some of her former Americorps recruits were having. The first year that she was recruiting, she put together one hell of a team, many of whom became roommates and involved romantically, and they've stuck together after their Americorps service year was over. A good group of folks. So anyway, it was a low-key but highly enjoyable birthday. Oh, and we're planning on going to Frederick in November to see an Emmylou Harris show and spend the night at a bed n' breakfast as a combined birthday/anniversary gift. Should be fun.

The J-Dog has started working a 4 ten-hour day work week, and it seems like it's gonna work out pretty well. By the luck of this week's scheduling, she's got a four day weekend, which is pretty cool. We're going to be shelling out a bunch of money this weekend, getting some car work done, some chimney work, and some energy testing done on the house. So it'll be an expensive weekend, but money spent on things we need.

Work this evening. A long stretch of work this coming week.

Car talk is funny sometimes. Time for eggs n' fake sausage.

I've been pooping a lot over the last couple'a days.

So Deep It Puts Your Ass To Sleep

A few weeks ago, Jeannie asked me if we could have a day where we took off someplace fun and had a day-trip-fun-day and agreed to not feel any guilt about not working on the house. Although I'd really like to be getting some shit done on the house right about now, I know the Jeanners has been working her behind off and needed a bit of stress-free maxin' and relaxin' with Doctor Me. So I picked August 8th, a Sunday that we both had off work, to be our guilt-free fun day. Then we just had to figure out what to do, where to go, and neither of us had any great ideas. Then a few days later I remembered that we've been meaning to go to Deep Creek Lake (how deep?), and a few days after that, the Jeanners came up with the ideas of going to someplace that I can't remember the name of and some place in Virginia called Lumas Caverns or something like that. She left it up to me, so I picked Deep Creek Lake, which is about 3 hours west of Baltimore in Western Virginia, and is kind of like, for all you Missourophiles out there, a half-sized Lake of the Ozarks.

We left yesterday morning, and I was feeling blank and expressionless and didn't have much to say, but after a little bit of driving and some McDonalds breakfast food I warmed up to the day. We got to the park ar around 12:30 and spent most of the afternoon on a 5 mile hike up in the hills that was relatively unexciting but not too bad. Then I took a nap by the lake while Jeannie did some people watching and we decided to head back towards Baltimore and stop at anyplace we thought might be interesting. The Jeanners wanted to stop at Sideling Hill, which is this monster pass that's cut through the mountains for highway 70 to go through. There's a little museum and an overlook. It was fairly lame. Then we drove a little bit more and decided to stop in Frederick, Maryland for dinner. Frederick is a town that we've driven by on the highway a million times but never stopped and got out and looked around. Turns out that there's a super-cute older downtown area that's very walkable with lots of shops and restaurants. I was very surprised by this, because from the highway Frederick looks pretty terrible. Anyway, we found a little Spanish/Mexican restaurant and proceeded to have a real tasty dinner and conversation, and it was just very nice. The meal was probably the best Mexican food I've had in my life (no offense, Chuy Arzola) and not too expensive. And it was just a nice atmosphere and a good time. Our friend Katie (the North American Traveler) is thinking about moving to Frederick at some point in the future, so perhaps we will have future opportunities for visiting and dining in good ol' Frederick.



Do you like Steely Dan?

PIT BEEF and HOBO'S CRABS

What a weekend it was. Busy and fun and, at times, relaxing. It all started back on Wednesday night...

Part 1. PIT BEEF

Wednesday night I headed down to CSC's final rehearsal for the reworking of 'Much Ado' so it could travel down to Fenwick Island for a one-off production. Then after rehearsal I headed down to PKP's house for a final late-night evening of geek games and Doritos. I also indulged in some caffeine-free Coca-Cola. A very good time, as always. I spent the night down at PKP's, and then on Thursday morn we all headed down to the beach, with BJ and I in the rental truck together. I only meowed a little bit. We stopped at a gas station and I ate a hotdog. We saw and smelled PIT BEEF. We heard for the first time and were amazed by the Blues Brother's 'Rubber Biscuit.' We pondered the headline 'Family Butcher Butchers Family.' And eventually we arrived down at the show site, which was a little outdoor theatre on the grounds of a fairly swanky and lush resort community. Spent the afternoon and evening setting up the show and mildly hoping for a rainout. The show went pretty decently, although using wireless mics was a bit of a pain when we had no time for any sort of tech rehearsal and the sound guy didn't have an up-to-date copy of the script. So aside from a few embarrassing sound-related incidents, the show ran smoothly. And Finn made his stage debut and was actually ad-libbing lines. Struck the show that night, finished up at around 11pm, and I had somebody bring me a beer from the resort bar located nearby. Because I had only had a hotdog and a protein bar to eat that day, the beer made me feel very loopy. So PKP and the Beej and I and Bj's ladyfriend Abby headed to the condo that the resort was putting us up in to get cleaned up. The condo turned out to be a huge, 3 bedroom number that was really darned nice. I had my own bedroom and bathroom with a shower that was about 7 feet by 10 feet. I could've had a party and invited all my friends plus the Golden Girls and we could've all hung out(no pun intended) in the shower and still had room to spare. The living room of the condo looked like this:



So after I got cleaned up, Beej and Abby and Pat and I headed out to find some food, having been told by the sound-guy that a place called 'Smitty McGee's' was a real nice place. It turned out to be a sports-type bar with a live band that was not very enjoyable. I was, however, able to get enough food to keep me from getting drunk off one beer. And it was 3 dollar import night, so that was nice. BJ got a G&T that literally had a fly in it. I got a bacon cheeseburger that was surprisingly baconless. But our waiter, Stu, took care of both situations. Thanks, Stu! After food, PKP and I headed back to the condo for sleepy-sleepy, and Beej and Abby headed down towards Bethany, where her family had a condo.

Friday morning we woke up, PKP made some delicious eggs, we hunted for the milk bottle that Finn had expertly hidden in one of the cabinets, packed up, checked out, and then PKP and T-Pain and Finn and I headed down to Bethany Beach for a day of fun in the sun. Note: attempting to park a 16-foot rental truck in a small, crowded beach town is not easy. But after eventually finding a suitable spot and getting some help from a friendly, OCD parking officer, I got the truck parked and we rendezvoused at the beach. Beautiful weather, big waves, and the beach wasn't uncomfortably overcrowded. Finn was loving the water and especially the sand. And attempting to eat all the sunscreen. Later in the afternoon, BJ and Abby arrived and we hung out for awhile, swam, ate fries. Packed up our shit and we all headed out, the PKP family and I heading back to DC and Baltimore, respectively, and BJ and Abby staying in Bethany for some lunch and then eventually heading home. I drove the rental truck back to PKP's and picked up my car and headed towards Baltimore, where one J. KNESE had arrived from St. Louis via Maine, NYC, and Philly, and was waiting with my wife for me to arrive home so we could have delicious Crosstown burgers (with bacon) from the Hamilton Tavern for dinner.

Part 2. HOBO'S CRABS

After driving through a bit of traffic downtown (apparently there was some sort of anime/Japanese pop culture convention going on -- lots of youngish people walking around in strange costumes) I made it home and the Jeanners and Jeffrey and I got some tasty burgers, and the waiter made fun of Jeff for getting his sans onions. Headed home and went to bed after a long day.

A slow start to Saturday morning, but we had a nice breakfast with fruit and biscuits and eggs 'n fake sausage. Then headed out to the Hamilton street fest, which consisted mainly of food booths and overpriced crafts and clothes, and three music stages set up -- two with bands and one DJ area back in an alley. There was also a classic-car auto show going on, and J-Dog, Jeff and I found the dipstick on many classic cars. Jeannie had a tasty ice treat made by a man named Jiggy. Jeff and I were silently panhandled by a man with '$1.00' written on a piece of tiny scrap paper. After we'd had our fill of the street fest we headed out west towards Catonsville, checked out the Patapsco Valley State Park, where we hiked and saw a deer, a log teepee, a trail marked by strips of a wife beater, a train tunnel, a woman with a wiggly butt and too many water bottles, shirtless hooligans, and post-apocalyptic abandoned factories with open dumpsters. Leaving the park, we checked out the main street of Catonsville, which it turns out shuts down at 6pm. Except for a large antique store that we proceeded to fill up with our farts. I say we because, although I participated, it wasn't just me. Didn't feel like eating in Catonsville, so we headed home. Saw a handmade sign on the side of Route 40 that said "HOBO'S CRABS." Not sure exactly what they were selling. Got home, I made a stir-fry and G&T's and we taught Jeff how to play Carcassonne. A fairly low-key evening. Sunday morning, repeat breakfast w/ biscuits, eggs, etc. then headed downtown to Sunday-morning market. Kept our eyes peeled for human poop. On the ground, not for sale. Left the market and walked around Fell's Point, ducked into a bike store, brushed off a street magician, bought cheap Tom Waits CD's at the Soundgarden. Drove to the Inner Harbor where we checked out Federal Hill, walked around, saw some more folks in anime costumes, loaded up on maps, and ate frozen custard. Rushed off to Towson to pick up our CSA vegetables and then headed home where we lounged on the porch, ate mini-pizzas and watched a squirrel with a broken tail. Then it was time for me to head to work and the Jeanners to give J. Knese a lift to the airport.

Told you it was a busy weekend. What am I forgetting?

Right now I'm listening to the cheap Tom Waits CD's that I bought at the Soundgarden, and I am enjoying them. This morning I loaded all of our jackhammered concrete basement rubble into a portable dumpster called 'THE BAGSTER' which we place in the front of our house and mysterious silent invisible men will come to collect within the next 5 days. Work this afternoon.

The Jeanners is leaving town for 3 days this week, heading to Atlanta for work training.

We Are Old. Are We Lame?

Of late: the J-Dog and I have taken up watching Thirtysomething streaming on Netflix. It is corny but I find myself identifying with several things in it.

Late Night With the Geeks

Tomorrow's pay day! Woo-Hoo! I guess, really, that pay day doesn't have the same punch now that it used to have in the olden days because the money is automatically added to my bank account by my employer, and then 90% of our bills are paid by money automatically coming out of the bank account. No more leaving work with a check in hand, going to the bank to cash said check and heading to one of Baltimore's more questionable establishments (such as the bar I saw the other day near Fell's Point called 'Bad Decisions') with pockets a'jingling. Whatever. I'm a fan of direct deposit. As well as online bill paying.

Anyway, it's been a decent week. On Tuesday night I headed down to Pat and Teresa's to get in some good playing-with-Finn time and then some good playing-geek-card-games-with-Pat-and-BJ-until-3am time. And we also ate Chips Ahoy cookies and Doritos by the fistful. It was a good time, and nearly shameful that we only managed to get together once for a geekout during the 2 months that BJ's been in town. Oh well. It'll leave us hungry for next time. So anyway, Tuesday night I stayed down at Pat's and then on Wednesday I drove up to Ellicott City for some set building. 'Much Ado' is going to be traveling down to Fenwick Island, Delaware next week, and the show and set need to be adapted to play in a different space. So Wednesday I found out what Ian wanted built and then BJ and I spent the afternoon building it and then taking it apart. It was much easier than I was expecting it to be. And I'm looking forward to heading to the beach next week. In my mind, it's all shaping up like some sort of Saved By the Bell special episode, like the one where Zack and the gang went to Hawaii. But really, most things in my life are like SBTB episodes in my head.

Jeannie and I started on some electrical work in the bathroom over the weekend. Got some decent work done. Not sure what to do next. Time to circle the wagons and plan the next few weeks, I guess.

Homemade pickles are brewing in the refrigerator. Yum.

Been hitting the gym pretty hard this week, which is good because a couple of days I ate like a 6 year old with a credit card.

The Jeanners has been busy and stressed at work. I'm hoping that that will end soon so that she can go back to devoting her time and attention to ME. Waaaa.

OK. Bedtime. The J-Dog is already conked out over there. Cute.

Workin' For A Livin'

I have just finsished day 12 in a row at work and am looking forward to a day off tomorrow. Today before work the Jeanners and I tried our hands at doing a little bit of wiring, and it seemed to go alright, and now that I'm home again it looks like she worked on some painting and cabinet door hanging in the bathroom while I was gone.

Last night we went out for a dinner date and tried out a Tibetan/Nepalese restaurant that we've been wanting to try, and it was quite a tasty dinner. Thanks to J. Knese for introducing us to this tasty variety of food while we were in St. Louis last time! Speaking of the Kneser, he's talking about coming out to the B-more for a visit in a couple of weeks. Should be a good time. I plan on whipping him with a belt until he drywalls our bedroom.

Hmmm. I'm sure there have been things I've been meaning to write about, but this G&T I'm sipping seems to be melting my brain and I can't think of anything interesting.

I am currently listening to a song called "Across the Alley from the Alamo," by the Mills Brothers. My dad likes the Mills Brothers, but I don't know that I've ever listened to anything by them before. They've got some pretty nice barbershop-esque harmonies going on.

The coming week is all about getting a set built for 'Much Ado About Nothing,' which will be traveling to Fenwick Island, Delaware on July 29th. Should be a good time, because BJ and PKP and T-Pain and FKP and I will be traveling down to ensure that the show goes on without a hitch and then staying overnight to party hearty at the beach. I'm definitely packing my thong. I'll also have to pack something to wear at the beach. So anyway, I've got to get the set and lights all planned out and ready to go this week.

That is all.

Rural Juror

It's been a weird week.

You know how a DVD sometimes has on its cover a little snippet from reviews that the film has received? Like, it might say something like "Exhilarating!" or "Sensational!" or something like that. Yesterday I was sorting some DVD's at work and out of the corner of my eye I thought that on the cover of one particular DVD it said "Abortive!" I'm fairly sure that that's not what it said, but I didn't look again to see what it actually said.

And then yesterday my old friend Colleen sent me this news link about a grade-school classmate of ours, Joel. It was nice to hear from Colleen, who I haven't talked to in a few years, but it was a weird damn story.

And I've been working a lot. Today was day 8, and I'm working through Saturday. Nothing too exciting, but it's kept me from doing much of anything productive.

And I've got jury duty tomorrow, which I've never done before. And while I normally like sitting for 8 hours and doing nothing, I'd really just rather have a day off. Tonight I'm heading over to the Rec Room for a going away party for a co-worker who's going to Korea to teach for a year. I was looking forward to it this afternoon, but I am feeling less enthusiastic currently. Right now I'm just feeling kinda sad and bummed and I'd rather just sit and listen to music and then eventually go to bed. Hopefully being around folks will perk me up.

It Was the Heat of the Moment

Today it was hot.

Last night I had a dream about Tom Waits. I dreamed he was playing at Baldwin Auditorium and I was the auditorium manager.

Yesterday I spent a good portion of the day reading old e-mails. E-mails from 1999 and 2000 and 2002. I'm glad I still have all of those old e-mails because there's a lot of good shit in them.

The Jeanners and I now have a place to put our extra toilet paper. I'm going to stick it in here:



I'm assuming Jeannie will stick it in there, too.

Today I went back to work after having 4 days off. During my days off I found myself missing the opportunity to dedicate large portions of my day to reading celebrity biographies. For the next week or so, though, I won't be able to read a lot at work because I actually have things to do.

Such is life.

There Were Two Dicks.

The other night, Jeannie and I finally got to hang out with the Beej and A-Train, and we headed over to the Hamilton Tavern for dinner. The Beej and the A-Train both had burgers, and both agreed that they were good burgers, and furthermore also agreed that much of the burger's power comes from the "sticky spicy" bacon. So I would just like to reiterate: if you ever have a Crosstown Burger, get it with the bacon. Feel free to decline the optional fried-egg-on-top, though.

In addition to the tasty burgers, we tried a few desserts, too, one of which was a cupcake with, you guessed it, bacon on top. Reviews were generally not very positive, although it wasn't bad, just weird. Anyway, it was a pretty good dinner, and then we went back to the house and shot the shit for awhile, it was seriously one of the best times that I've had in a long time. I laughed a lot harder than I have in a long time. There were some new nicknames that were given out:

The Jeanners = Two Dicks.
The A-Train = Sweet Greasy.
DOB = Nutty Sweet.
The Beej = well, he didn't get a new name, so he's just the Beej.

Jeannie solved the mystery of Billie Jean's twins, Aimee demonstrated her Michael Jackson dancing, BJ googled something funny but I can't remember what it was, etc. You get the idea. Hilarious antics all around.

The Jeanners and I have both had the last couple of days off together, and we've been doing a lot of work building some storage shelves and cabinets into one of the bathroom walls. I think it'll be really nice when it's done, and it'll be nice to have places to put all of our toiletries. Now there's a word that I hate, "toiletries." Other words that I hate: tissue, muffin.

Today is the 4th of July. We're going to do a bit more work in the bathroom, but also try to set some time aside for a tasty celebratory meal. I believe we might be dining with Katie the North American Traveler. Anyway, it's been nice having some time off, and the weather has been beautiful, and now I'm gonna start on the day's projects.

What I Did Today at Work:

I read this book. All 272 pages.

If You Are The Person Who Picks the Music in Ipad Commercials, Please Read This Post.

Well, here's the latest version of the song. I'm now debating whether or not I should come up with actual lyrics or just leave it like it is. Here's some reasons why:

1. I like songs with nonsense lyrics.
2. Sometimes lyrics can ruin an otherwise perfectly fine song.
3. A lot of great songs that I really love I listen to over and over again, until one day I finally start to learn the lyrics and then I get tired of the song and stop listening to it over and over again.

Anyway, let me know if nonsense lyrics really piss you off.

Actually this whole thing reminds me of a debate that my friend Doug and I used to have when we were about 13 or 14. U2's song 'Elvis Presley and America' was recorded, and Bono sang some nonsense lyrics as a placeholder until they could go back and write and record some finished lyrics. When the time came to record the finished lyrics, producer Brian Eno said, "Nope, we're leaving it as it is," much to the surprise and consternation of the rest of the band. I always took the position that Brian Eno made the right decision, that the song is much more unique and mysterious with unfinished vocals, but Doug used to say, "The song is good now, but imagine how great it could've been with finished lyrics and vocals." Hmmm. My opinion hasn't changed. I still think that the song is still interesting to me today (25 years later) because the words are indecipherable and meaningless.

Triumph of the Human Spirit (or See, You're Vote Really DOES Count!)

The Jeanners and I just got back from a nice summer walk. A nice walk, but then it felt hotter than a crack pipe inside the house when we got home. It's amazing how many walks we've been on since we finished watching all the available episodes of Big Love. I must say, it feels nice to use that hour of free time that we have after dinner for something more interesting than hunkering down in front of Bill Paxton.

Today a serviceman from the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company came to our home to install a programmable thermostat as part of the PeakRewards Smart Energy Savers Program that we enrolled in a few weeks ago. Basically, it means that the power company can turn off our air conditioner a few times during the summer, but they pay us for the privilege. Since we don't use the ol' AC much anyway, we figure it's worth a shot. Plus, we get to keep the thermostat even if we opt out later. Anyway, the thing is now installed, and it is very strange to see a shiny, space age piece of electronics amidst all the wreckage that is the backside of our house.

Well, now that the Jeanners is back from her trip (during which she had possession of our workhorse laptop), I was able to tinker around a bit with the song that I said I wasn't going to tinker around with, and I'm pleased with the results. It sounds basically the same, but it's expanded a bit and it's more gay disco-y. So thanks for the encouragement, everybody!

I had today off work, and my car is in the shop. I cut up some wood, worked on music, and did some laundry. And sweated. Tomorrow I am off work again, and my car will still be in the shop. What should I do? Maybe go for a run since my recent illness has kept me from any exercisical exertions. Perhaps tinker around with the song some more, make it even gayer and disco-y-er. Maybe try to come up with real lyrics. Shit, I meant to pick up some bananas but I forgot. Perhaps I will pick up some bananas tomorrow and make a smoothie. The possibilities are literally limitless. Except that they are limited to things that I can do without a car. But shit, I can sure pick up some bananas!

Sure!

Yeow!

Sick Rick

I have been sick like the proverbial doggy lately. Nasty summer cold, and for some reason the NyQuil would randomly choose to not knock me out but rather get me all hopped up, and as a result I had a couple of rough nights. But it seems to be on its way out, leaving me with nothing but a bad sore throat. Thanks to the Jeanners for taking care of me and getting me some non-expired Nyquil last night. I still owe you that date.

Been on a Tom Waits kick lately.

It's been warm here, and humid, and there isn't really a break in sight yet, but it hasn't been unbearable. A little uncomfortable at night, though. I wonder if we'll have to break down and turn on the AC at some point. I'm not planning on it, but I guess we'll have to see what it's like in July when it starts getting nasty hot.

What to have for dinner tonight?

What to do tonight?

Now that the Jeanners is back in town and I'm starting to feel better, I'm guessing we'll finish up painting the bathroom and then start on some wiring. Looking forward to it. I've been reading up, and think I should be able to not burn the place down. Anyway, we'll see.

Boring post. Not much going on.

Upon review, it appears that your vote does not actually count.

Well, thanks to everyone who voted for the fate of the as-yet-unnamed song. And, although public response was 100% positive, I discovered last night that one of the drum tracks used in the song I never actually saved, so I would have to go back and rebuild that track from the start, which would be entirely more difficult than just remixing and rearranging existing tracks, and blah blah blah. Plus, I've already kinda moved on to other stuff. So it seems that my subconscious mind has already made the decision to put that one on the shelf and leave it for the days after I've been given my million dollar record deal (do they still have those?) and I'm scrambling for material for a doomed-from-the-start second album. Then I'll pull it down from the shelf, dust it off, rebuild that drum track, and make up some proper lyrics about rain, use it in a deodorant commercial and live happily ever after reading Walt Whitman and playing Civilization III in the bathtub all day.

Am I getting a cold or is this just allergies or is it the beginnings of cancer?

In the positive news category, I was downstairs last night farting around with the recording equipment, and I was able to produce the guitar tone that I have been trying to produce for literally 22 years. And I saved the settings, so I should be able to dial it up whenever I want. Just the right amount of distortion, just the right amount of echo, with a little bit of modulation on the decay so it sounds like the note just kind of lumbers off to die somewhere in the distance. Good stuff. I had forgotten that when I work on music like that I tend to lose track of time, and when I finally went upstairs it was almost midnight. Which isn't that big of a deal except that I had to work this morning and I was a wee bit sleepy for the day. Luckily, I have a job that requires nothing.

The Jeanners gets back tomorrow, the Jeanners gets back tomorrow!

The other day I was on the phone with Jeannie and I saw that our old realtor pulled up in front of our house and came up to the front door. Because I had just gotten back from a long run (more later) and was pretty disgusting, and the house was pretty trashed, I pretended to not be home and hid until she went away, for which I feel a bit like a coward and kinda stupid, but it just wasn't a good time. Sometimes it's just easier to hide.

So the other day I decided to go for a long run and I headed out on my now-usual run to Herring Run park and I was able to make it all the way down to the park, around the park, and back home. I'm thinking it was about 6 miles, which is by the far the farthest I've run since my being-in-good-shape days of 2008. It felt good, like maybe the being-in-good-shape days of 2008 might be coming back. I do hope to surprise Jeannie with my sexitude when she gets back.

Yesterday I went to the Rec Room with BJ for a tasty burger. We also played spades. I never beat BJ at spades, but yesterday I did. I made him sign the score sheet and I plan to keep it forever. In fact, let's make it a thing of public record:



It should also be known that BJ wins 99.9% of the spades hands that we play.

Did I mention that the Jeanners gets back tomorrow?

Your Vote Counts!

So I've been working on this song for the last few days and had gotten pretty unhappy with it, then this morning I burned it to a CD and listened to it in the car on the way to work and I started to like it again. So now I don't know if it's worth putting more time and effort into it, finishing the music, writing lyrics, etc. -- or if I should just scrap it and start on something else. Let me know.

Ain't No Sunshine

I am sitting here sweating a bunch, as I just got back from a nice, long run. Ran down to Herring Run park and then ran around the park. Eventually I will work my way up to then running home as well, but I ain't there yet. While I was out on my run, I saw my twin. It was a guy who looked a lot like me, dressed a lot like me, running the other way. So if you're ever driving down Walther and see some dude running down the road, don't spit on him cause it might not be me.

The J-Dog is out of town. For a week. It sucks. She left on Friday and she'll get back this Friday. I would love to say that I'm going to surprise her when she gets back by doing a lot of work on the house while she's gone, but it seems that I'm actually filling my time by running, sleeping, and sitting in the bathtub reading. Currently reading Walt Whitman's prose recollections, Specimen Days. I think that anybody who has a blog should read it. He kind of reminds me that there's always something to write about, and there's always a more interesting way of doing it. To wit: if I didn't know what to write about on a particular day, I would probably write something like, "Today I went for a walk and sat in a field." Then a new paragraph about something else. WW would write about 3 or 4 pages about the walk, talking about the sights, the sounds and smells, and about memories and feelings that the walk stirred up. That's what good writers do. Really, the only thing that makes my blog better than Walt Whitman's writing is that he rarely writes about his poop or stinky farts. Oh well.

It's hot in here, but not unbearably hot. Used to be a lot hotter in our place in Charles Village, both because it was on the 3rd floor and because it was in the middle of the city and surrounded by not much else other than concrete. Last night after I got home from work (around 11) I sat out on the front porch and had a G&T, and it was nice and cool, with a little breeze, and quiet. I walked around the garden to check it out and saw that one of the tomato plants has sprouted 2 little tomatoes. We've also got a cucumber that's growing nicely, almost pickle-sized already. I would also like to point out that BJ is also almost pickle-sized already.

I came up with a pretty decent band name yesterday: The Judy Blooms. However, I just googled it and see that there's already a band with that name on Myspace. Damn them! And damn you!

Worked on a song a few days ago that seemed promising when it was just a guitar and drum track but after working on it for a few days it has grown, floundered, and died. But it feels nice to occasionally work on music again, plus it's nice and cool down in the basement where all the recording stuff is set up.

Alright, that's all I got!