Never think of others

This morning I thought about calling out sick to work, because I have a lot of sick time that I haven't used this year, and because I was scheduled as a mid-shift, so it would've been a good day to do it. But then I thought, "No, it's Elizabeth's first day back after her vacation, and she'd be sad if I called out," and I went in to work. Only to find that Elizabeth had called out sick.

This is, officially, the last time that I will ever attempt to do anything nice for someone other than myself. From here on out, I shall only look out for #1.


Last night Jeannie and I watched some MAD ABOUT YOU. Which is a show that I've found most other people on the planet dislike, but damn if me and the old lady don't love us some Paul and Jaime.

Snow Day!

Today, for no real good reason, the B&N is closed. Woo-Hoo! There's maybe 3 inches of snow on the ground, and a little ice, but the roads are not too bad. I know because I had to drive into work before I found out that work was closed. Still, though, SNOW DAY!

Fugg Yeah!

I wish my girlfriend didn't have to work so we could have a snow day together.

Last night Jeannie and BJ and Pat and I drove into Towson to have .5 priced burgers only to find that the Rec Room was in the process of closing due to bad weather. Bah! So we ended up having bad food-court food. But Jeannie and I went back to the eye-doctor place to pick up her contact lens and the guy working there was much nicer than the dickface of a doctor that works there during the day. So now I feel less hatred towards Pearle in general, and my hatred is directed specifically at the dickface of a man that calls himself an eye-doctor.

Last night, for the first time in awhile. we watched some Law and Order.

You Belong in a Zoo...

My beautiful sweet wife on her birthday.

Le Cake

Tonight BJ and Pat went to see a movie, and the Jeanners and I spent a quiet night at home making her birthday cake (from scratch!) and listening to tunes. We also made me some chicken salad for my lunches this week.

Many thanks to Korn, who has earned her spot in the blog by agreeing to switch shifts with me so I can have a celebratory birthday dinner with my ladyfriend.

Last night I had some sort of food poisoning, waking up in the middle of the night to explode from both ends. I place blame on either the strange dessert that I ate, or the 1/4 gallon of ice cream that I ate after the strange dessert, both shortly before bed. I think that sometimes my eating habits betray the fact that I will always be a 5-year-old at heart.

I've got a long day at work tomorrow. I got real tired this evening and ended up taking a brief, unexpected nap. Now I'm hoping I'll get tired again soon so I can get to bed at a reasonable hour. Mo' later...

24.5 hours

In a little over a day, my wife turns the big 3-0. Ha! She hates birthdays. Hopefully we'll celebrate right and have a good time. I have to try and fix some scheduling boo-boos I made at work so that we can have a birthday dinner.

Anyway, we've been doing the show the last couple of nights, and it's been going well, but, as the Beej and I discussed on the car ride home, there are some inherent flaws in the show that we just can't put our finger on. Maybe when Jeannie gets home tonight we'll get her input as to what works and what doesn't.

I went back to work today after my days of vacation, and I was absolutely dreading it, but it wasn't too bad. I worked with someone who shall remain nameless who I haven't worked with in a long time, and that was cool.

Anyway, that's about it. It's been a long day and I'm tired.

The Front Page

Well, the show opens in 2 days, and we're having a preview night tomorrow night. Will it be ready? That's the question on everyone's mind. We've been making large strides the past couple of nights, but there's still some distance to be covered. The set is looking decent, though, which is nice because I wasn't exactly sure how well the set would work. But it seems to be just fine. I had predicted earlier that I thought it might be the technical issues that would cause problems, but it seems that I was wrong. The tech seems to be running pretty well and actor problems are what are holding us back. Anyway, here's a sneak peek of what the show looks like:



I have been enjoying my days of vacation, working on the set, but I've always got the nagging feeling that when I go back to work, it's gonna really suck. But usually when I go back to work, it's never as bad as I worry that it's going to be.

Candidate #2

Ok, here's the second option. I call this one, "The Smug Bastard."

Drunk on Dick? Drunk on Dip.

I have taken a few vacation days in order to work on the set and so I'll be available for each night of rehearsal this week. It's pretty sweet. I had a lot of vacation that I needed to use up by the end of February, anyway.

Yesterday we had rehearsal and then went to Aimee's kick-ass Superbowl party. Everybody got drunk on dip. And it was a very gay day.

So last week BJ and I got headshots taken by photographer extraordinaire Teresa C. Apparently, CSC decided that folks needed new headshots so we don't all look like A-holes in the program. So they sprung for a photographer to come in and take headshots of people. Here's one that I'm considering using:



I'll post more over the next few days and then we can have an online voting session and the winning picture will be featured on the cover of my fanclub magazine!

Back that shit up.

I realized today that I totally forgot to write about our sleepover/fondue party last weekend. Well, here's how it went down:

Last Saturday night, Aimee came over for a sleepover, and she brought her new fondue pot (or as she called it, a 'fondue machine') and I went to the grocery store and bought some fruit and pretzels and shit, and the Beej and the J-dog and the A-train melted up some chocolate real good in the fondue machine, and then we dipped the fruit and shit into the melted chocolate and then we ate that junk up.

Then after we ate fondue, the Beej and the Jeanners looked on the internet and watched a video of a calcified fetus (!) being removed from a man's (!!) stomach. Aimee and I watched the Beej and the Jeanners watch the video. Their reactions were funny. I videotaped them watching it, and I thought about posting it on YouTube so I could link to it in this here blog, but I don't think I'm ready to get into all that yet. Anyway, I did take some photos for posterity:



The Jeanners slices fruit. BJ and Aimee prepare the melty chocolate. Yum!


The delicious fondue is consumed and enjoyed by all!


BJ and the Jeanners do google searches for things like "calcified fetus" and "the world's largest..."


Then, at the end of the night I took this picture out of our bedroom window because I liked the way the light looked coming out of our neighbors' window. The picture doesn't really do it justice, though.

Hair Ditch.

Man, yesterday I had a real bad day and I got all mad at the eye doctor (long story). But then today was a much better day and I got to play some geek games with Pat and BJ.

Pat and BJ and the Jeanners and I went down to Rocky Run for some .5 priced burgers before myself and the boys left for rehearsal. I'm currently at rehearsal, where line problems continue to bog down the process.

Anyway. That's about it for now.

"I hate BJ, I hate Jeannie, gonna live my life alone."

That's my song that I made up for the morning.

Today my motivation to go to work is very very low. The day has great potential for suckage. Oh well, it's only one day, how bad could it be?

I got an e-mail from Ron R. the other day. He is now a grandpa and overworked and will be directing Batboy: The Musical.

Hmmm. What else? Rehearsals continue in a sometimes-annoying, sometimes-fun fashion. Work is in always-annoying mode. Life at home with the Jeanners and BJ is always fun but very sedentary.

Anyway, that's all I got for the day.

Half-naked homeless insulter

For the past few days I've been closing at work, which I haven't done very much for awhile. Closing is easy as hell. I've been getting a lot of work done and there have been very few customers (which in the grand scheme is a bad thing but it's allowed me to get a lot of work done). Last night part of my job was to babysit a half-naked homeless man in the restroom for 20 minutes to make sure he didn't mess with any customers. The reason that I had to babysit him was because we were kicking him out because he was completely naked in the bathroom, giving himself a bath. Which is fine and all, but you can't be completely naked. And if you are gonna be completely naked, you can't verbally abuse the people that come in to tell you that you can't be completely naked. So while I stood and babysat him, he spewed forth many insults, including "You are an asshole, pal." and "You are a disgrace to the white race." (Strangely, the homeless man was white and he kept telling me I was a racist and a disgrace to the white race. I think that he was proposing that I was prejudiced against the white race.) He also told me that he would punch me in the face if he didn't think he would go to jail for it. He was fun.

So work has been a little more annoying and a little more mind-numbing than usual, and I've also been a little stressed about it, which sucks.

But rehearsals have been fine, and I've been thoroughly enjoying watching BJ at rehearsals. I haven't seen him in a non-Shakespeare show since college, and it's a lot of fun to watch him in something relatively contemporary. I think he's got the right amount of "BJ" in this character, and the lines are well-written, so it's a good combination.

I haven't gotten to spend as much time with the Jeanners as I usually do. I miss my baby.


Sean is talking about coming for a visit in April to hang out and work on recording some of his songs. I think this sounds like a super super good idea. I have been missing the Seanyboy and I'm looking forward to working on some of his tunes. Bring it on, Seanyboy!

Slide

I have not been very motivated lately. At work, at home, at anywhere. It's been this way for awhile, probably since before Christmas, and I haven't really wanted to do anything at all. I'm not minding it so much at the moment, it kind of feels like a little vacation from real life, but I have a feeling that in a month or so I'm going to try to be a little monk with lots of tea, exercise, less food and drink, and lots of music. Who knows, the exact opposite might happen.

I've been listening to a Colin Hay CD (Going Somewhere) that BJ bought the other day. He's the guy from Men at Work, and he's got a few solo CD's where it's pretty much just him and an acoustic guitar. He's got a nice voice that lends itself well to the stripped down stuff. Anyway, I think Sean is going to be driving him around Alaska in May, and if you can tell anything about a person from their songs, I think he and Sean will get along well.

I've also been listening to The Joshua Tree again lately, trying to dissect what it was that turned me on to that album so much when I was a little kid. At the time, it was probably the guitars and singing, but when I listened to it the other day, I was surprised at how the main things I focused on were the synths and backing vocals. That album has way more synths on it than I used to think. Anyway, that's what I've been listening to.

Cockblockery!

Well, it's been awhile since I wrote, and here's the skinny on the lowdown of what's been going on.

Friday night had folks from the B&N over for games and drinks. I drank too much, got real drunk, spent the night on the bathroom floor. Spent Saturday puking and recovering. The games on Friday were fun, though.

Work today, then tonight the Aimee came over and we've all just been hanging out. It snowed this afternoon and we all had a nice walk to get some Chinese food.

Hmmm. The blog posts just get lamer and lamer. Life is fine, though.

Tonight the game Skip-Bo has been renamed "Cockblockery!".

Par-tay!

Tonight after work, we are having B and N people over to play games and drink. This morning I felt like my dad before a party, making sure I had enough ice and enough to eat and drink. It was a productive 1.5 hours.

I am now off to make the poo and get ready for work.

Blasts from the Past

Last night BJ was looking at old pictures from college that he had scanned onto his computer, most of which I had never seen before. Here's some of the highlights.


Big Daddy James, in a lot of his glory.


Me and the Schluetermetz', back when we were young and carefree and I still wore jeans. I miss that office. I still have that white T-shirt...


No comment necessary, really.


Flip Manuever!


The Beej gets his face licked by Drew and Swoboda. I sense enjoyment in all of the particapants except Swoboda.


A very very young BJ dances with a young-ish Big Daddy, while a very very young DOB pushes back his mop of forgotten hair stage right.


In addition to taking this stroll down memory lane, last night after rehearsal BJ taught Jeannie and I the correct way to play Skip-Bo, which after losing several time s I declared to be the Lamest Game. I won a couple of times today, though, so it's not too bad anymore.

Stupid Popcorn

Yesterday turned out to be a relaxing day of people working on their own stuff. Jeannie worked on her design project, the BJ and I played spades and we all talked and listened to music.

Then in the evening we went out to Aimee's, went to Don Pablo's for dinner, hit the liquor store and then back to Aimee's for games and G&T's. We played one of my christmas-gift games (Catchphrase) which was a lot of fun, and we also played some of the old standby's, Scattergories and Apples to Apples.

But then, after we got home Jeannie and I had a little argument about popcorn, which in hindsight seems to be a really silly thing to have an argument about. But I had probably had too much G&T and was being an argumentative ass. So my goal today is to not be an ass and to be nice and sweet.

For the last few weeks I've been feeling more insecure than I have since I was about 18. Why? Is it because of the approaching 30th birthday? Because of boredom at work combined with a fear of being stuck with the boredom? I've always thought that I would be able to sidestep any sort of midlife crisis, but if this is what approaching 30 feels like, I'm guessing 40 will be a lot worse.

Saturday Morning

This morning, BJ and Jeannie and myself headed to the farmers' market, and then to the Book Thing (a free bookstore a few blocks from our house). Then home for some bacon and eggs. I'm in desperate need of a shower.

Here's some pictures of some cool kids and their morning adventures:


BJ and Jeannie on the way to the market.


BJ contemplates something above him.


B. Gailey, dock worker.


A cute boy I saw sitting outside the Book Thing.

Lazy sack.

I haven't been blogging. I haven't been returning e-mails. Why? Because BJ is in town and my time-wasting skills become keenly honed when the BJ is in town.

A lot of time has been wasted, but it's been fun. We've been having some rehearsals (I'm worried that the technical details could detract from what will, I think, be an otherwise good show) (but it's still early), and playing some Nintendo Wii (which is strange but fun) and have had one late night game of three person YouknowTodd (Uno) with BJ, the Jeanners and myself. Tomorrow night the plan is to get together with the Aimee and play some games. I seriously can't wait. I'm in a good mood tonight because I accidentally gave myself the whole weekend off, and didn't realize that I did it until yesterday. I'm looking forward to it, though.

I just finished my christmas-gift bag of chocolates from someplace in St. Louis called Henry and James' Chocolates or something like that. They were delicious. Given to me by the Jeanners' sister-in-law. Which is not my sister, but rather Jeannie's brother's wife.

This post is remarkably rambly and, I fear, uninteresting. Oh well. I guess it's good when your life is more fun than your blog posts.

Update

The Beej arrived last night (late) and we started rehearsals for The Front Page tonight with a read-though. The read-through was pretty funny, and it's going to be great to hang out with Pat and the Beej while we work on the show.

I am off work tomorrow! I think I'll have a normal day of errands and hopefully a trip to the gym. Then rehearsal tomorrow night. Whee!

Red Red Wine

Well, I got everything accomplished off of yesterday's list (I realized that I used the word 'little' in the list 3 times!) except that the recording didn't really work right because I'm having problems with some of my cables. And I was going to call Melissa from work but then noticed that her schedule doesn't change until next week. So I didn't need to call her. But I got all the other stuff done and went to the gym and got the oil changed in my car. And took a nap. What more can one do in a day?

Tonight the Jeanners and I watched one of our Netflix movies, Bringing Up Baby, with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. It wasn't that great. Luckily, we had a big bottle of red wine that we had opened last night for dinner that we didn't want to go bad. So we drank red wine throughout the movie, which made the whole situation a lot better. Then, after the movie Jeannie checked her e-mail and had an e-mail from the Schlueteremetz' proposing a fake-Thanksgiving sometime in March. So we got really excited and semi-drunk dialed the Schluetermetz'. Sorry Schluetermetz'!

So I'm still drinking the red wine in an attempt to finish off the bottle. The Jeanners and I are currently in preparations to go for a walk. There is little in life that is better than taking a walk in chilly air after a bottle of red wine. With your bestest ladyfriend. Seriously.

Tomorrow on the day off:

1. To the gym!
2. To Guitar Center to buy some new cables with my 'secret Santa' $25 Guitar Center gift card.
3. Recording.

Tonight I got an e-mail from J. Scheuer, which is always nice. It sounds like he and his lady are doing well, married and living just north of San Francisco. Which is a pretty lovely place to be living, indeed.

Mmmm. This wine is good. Typing on a computer after red wine reminds me of college. Ha ha. College seems like a long time ago. I don't miss it, but I sure do like it when I get to see the people I used to hang out with. But I wouldn't trade my life now to go back. Ahh, I'm getting pretty drunk and nostalgic. For some reason, I enjoy having to concentrate really hard to get the keystrokes right.

Right now I'm on a semi-Kerouac kick. I picked up a book that I have, The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats. which is basically a collection of articles written about Beat authors (a good deal considering it's a decent read [for Beat fans] and was only $4.98 [a bargain book]}, and I've been re-reading the articles on Kerouac, and it makes me want to reread something of Kerouac's. Which will probably be Vanity of Duluoz, which I don't own but will probably end up buying in order to reread.

Tom Waits' 'The Piano Has Been Drinking' just came up randomly on the ol' mp3 player. Fitting. A great song. If you've never heard it, download it tomorrow.

And the song just changed to Ray Lamontange's (it's funny to hear customers come into the B&N and try to pronounce his name) 'Three More Days,' which is a good song but the Jeanners says it's way overplayed on Towson University's radio station.

Alright, it's time to go for a walk!

Free at last, free at last...

Ah-Ha! I have just finished a 6 day stretch of work that felt like a six month stretch, and I have two luscious days off stretched out before me, and nothing to fill them with, which sounds absolutely glorious. I just decided to make myself a tasty spaghetti dinner.

The other night I looked at Jenna Fischer's Myspace page and it made me wish I was famous.

Also, we have learned that the Beej will be staying with us for at least part of the time that he is in town for the Front Page, which is very exciting. Very very exciting. I can't wait for him to arrive. Cards! Games! Half-priced burgers!

Plans for tomorrow:

1, Try and figure out a good way to block out some of the cold air that's coming in through the skylight in our bathroom.
2. Maybe shop for a little space heater?
3. Work on a little recording.
4. Call Melissa from work to tell her that her schedule has changed a little.

Today at work a co-worker named Andrew gave me a cd that his band has just recorded, and I listened to a little bit of it on the way home. The first couple of songs were pretty dismissable, but the one I was listening to as I pulled up to our building I liked a lot. I'm interested in listening to the rest of the cd to see which way it goes.

A Lesson in True Love

The Jeanners showed me some true love this Christmas by getting me Neil Young's Harvest album. It was a selfless gesture because the Jeanners truly hates her some Neil Young. And ever since she got me the album I've been listening to it in the car and then I come home from work singing "Heart of Gold." So she's probably regretting getting me that CD. Or, she's regretting getting married to me.

I've been getting a ton of shit done at work, but it seems like there's a ton more to do before the department will be officially recovered from the hellish nightmare known to unbelievers as "The Holiday Season."

Last night the Jeanners and I rang in the new year by playing chess and watching my other Christmas gift, the new-ish Jeff Tweedy DVD, Sunken Treasure. The DVD is a series of solo acoustic shows that Tweedy played in the Northwest. I recommend it for any Wilco fans out there, especially Wilco fans who like to play acoustic guitar. Anyway, I was in bed by 11pm, and then mildly annoyed when I was awakened at midnight by the sound of fireworks. I think I shall officially mark this spot in my life as the moment I turned old. Huzzah!


p.s. I find it to be amusing that the word 'blog' is not in this blogger's spell-check. Also, whenever I write 'The Jeanners,' it suggests that I replace it with 'canners.'

After Christmas Sale!

The Jeanners and I arrived back in Baltimore Thursday night at around 1:30am, and I haven't had a chance to blog because A) I've been busy at work, and B) I'm sick.

I must've picked up something on the plane ride home, or from one of the numerous sick people we encountered in St. Louis, cause I've been feeling crappy and cold-like since Friday morning. Oh well. I don't get a chance to take a break until later this week.

So our trip was good. We got to see a lot people, including the Eric, the Drew, and the Karista. And we got to meet Eric's ladyfriend, who we had not met before. We also got to participate in many family events, and eat lots of holiday food.

Work looks like it could be a pain in the ass for a few days.

Here's some highlights from the visit to the Lou:


My niece and I take our skates off after ice skating.



Ricky checks his cell phone at the Ritz, X-mas Eve. Note the bling on his belt buckle.



Drew and Karista hit the mean streets of the Lou.



Perhaps the worst picture of Drew in existence? I stuck a camera in his face and the flash went off. Sorry, Drew.

12/23

Hmmm. Today was the busiest day in Towson B&N music department history. And to give you an idea of how busy it was, I will say this: it was goddamn muthafuckin' busy.

Also, today was the wake/viewing (I'm not exactly sure what the difference between a wake/viewing/memorial service is) for Elizabeth's dad. So I'm glad that I was able to get away from work for a little while to attend. Elizabeth is one of the best folks I've met here in Baltimore and I wanted to show props to her and her family.

Tomorrow after a half-day at work the Jeanners and I will board a plane for The Lou. Then tomorrow evening we'll be celebrating X-mas with the Anderson clan. Then, after that, it's drinks at the Ritz with Ricky Elz and friends and family! An annual treat.

I don't know if I'll get to blog from the road, so everybody have a great Christmas. Hopefully I'll get to see some folks that I haven't seen since last year, and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

I am resisting the urge to watch 'The View'...

...and I'm writing in my blog instead.

What a good morning it's been so far. Today's my day off, but I got up early this morning to go into work just to help make sure the day goes nicely for all the suckas that have to go the B&N today, and I headed to the gym and had a nice workout. Then I came home and made myself some bacon n' schmeggs and I've been hanging out with my girlfriend, singing along off-key'ly to Christmas carols and reading OAA's blog. Right now we're listening to a bit from the Nut-racker . I mean, Nutcracker.

Last night after work, the J-dog and I headed over to Aimee's, where we shot the shit and helped her with her large Christmas cookie baking tasks, and I got to satisfy my month-long craving for good ol' delivery pizza. Papa John weaved his magic, and I ate a whole damn pie. It was a good time, and it was good to hang with the A-train, who we don't see nearly as often as we should, and who seems to be enjoying life.

How shall I spend the rest of my day? The only things that are definite at this point are a shit and a shower.

Hangin' Over

I am proud that I didn't make any flagrant spelling or grammar mistakes in last night's post, as I was pretty drunk when I wrote it. I had to concentrate very hard to not screw anything up. And today I was feeling the pain. Not too bad (I didn't make salsa or sleep on the bathroom floor or anything) but 5:45 rolled around pretty early this morning.

This morning at work we had our secret santa gift exchange, and there was also a little luncheon for some of the folks, from which I got to eat some of the leftover scraps, which were very good. A nice ham sandwich with mayo and cheese. Eating it made me remember the 1 or 2 Christmases when I worked at Honeybaked Ham during X-mas break. When I learned the many many uses of ham fat. The best part about HH was that they paid for lunch every day, and laid out an awesome spread of ham, turkey, and other fixin's. Yum. I do not miss the job, though, because it was boring.

One more day closer to being done with the busiest time of year! Woo-Hoo!

Game and Gin Night

Tonight, after a relatively shit day at work (it actually wasn't too bad, considering that today was December 17th) we had Katie, Elizabeth (not from work) and Chris over for Chipotle, G&T's, and games. The Chipotle wasn't quite as good as the one in Towson (I thought) {I'll give it a couple of months to get better}, but the G&T's were good (and they did the trick), and the games were fun. Even for Elizabeth, who is a self-described non-game fan.

I'm ready for it to be December 26th. I'm tired of large crowds at work.

Jeannie bought some handmade soap today that smells like cloves.

A mere 8.5 shopping days left

Busy busy day today at work, but not too bad. Busy enough that the day flew by, which is a good thing. And no Christmas-ruiners.

I'm a bit weary this evening. I don't think the Jeanners slept very well last night so I'm guessing she is, too. She's in the shower right now. She went and volunteered at Hab. For Human. (her former employer) today with Alison, a former Habitat coworker who is now engaged and living somewhere in the farther-north Northeast. Boston, maybe?

Last night we watched the 90's David Lynch movie Lost Highway, and though it had a slow start we eventually got into it and it was ok.
I remember owning the soundtrack for that movie. I think I sold it in college so that I would have money to buy large bottles of gin. I'm glad that I no longer have to sell things when I want to drink.

I don't know what we'll be doing this evening. Maybe wrapping presents. Maybe watching another movie. Maybe just hanging out. I think we'll be staying home and laying low.

Whiz

In Chuck Berry's, "Run, Run, Rudolph," Rudolph is described as 'whizzing across the sky,' which I think is a funny image. For me, it conjures urine more than something moving quickly.

That being said, the days are whizzing by.

Last night at work was kind of fun, because at the end of the night, Cindy and Marlene were out on the floor helping to straighten up, and we were all yelling to each other from different aisles, and joking and talking about going home and drinking and there was just a general sense of comraderie that sometimes exists at the B&N and sometimes does not. I like it when it does.

My parents are putting up their Christmas tree today, which historically was the only time that we children ever heard my father cuss. Well, it was the only time when we could expect to hear my father cuss. There were , of course, odd hammer-to-thumb moments when he would let a throught-the-teeth goddamnit slip out, but putting up the tree day was always good for some verbal fireworks.

Bacon is frying in the pan.