Don't GoOK

I went to the OK City Hornets/Houston Rockets game on Sunday in Oklahoma City. This was the furthest west I have ever driven on I-44. I thnk it will be a long time before I ever go back again. Don't get me wrong. From what I saw of downtown Oklahoma City I liked. It was very clean for a major city. However, the drive is a bear. Not one but two tolls for the right to drive on a turnpike that hasn't seen a road repair crew since the late 80s. The outlying towns along the interstate are not that inviting. I am very glad the car didn't breakdown. Nevertheless, I went to the game and now I can add it to the list of major professional sports that I have attended.

Mark March 24, 2007 on your calendar. I finally changed the last clock in the apartment one hour ahead.

...and so it goes.

I recently purchase Jawbreaker's "24 Hour Revenge Therapy." At the point of purchase, I thought it was a bit overpriced. However, it had a couple tracks that I knew I already liked so I went ahead and bought it. I am very glad that I did.

The music on this album is very relaxing to me. It's comfortable. It isn't fast and loud to get my spirits up and it isn't slow to put me to sleep. It is just very familiar, comforting music. One treat that I found was that on the track "Condition Oakland" they have audio of Jack Kerouac reading something (perhaps On the Road). That reading just adds to the comfort. It is distinctly Kerouac, referencing Lowell, his hometown, and speaking in that odd New England/French accent. Needless to say, I recommend this album.

Hockey ends soon.

Baseball begins.

Huzzah!

Damn Good 24 Hours

Despite feeling noticable better about my sinus troubles, and possibly needing only one more night of meticulous medicating, I drove to Columbia for the Against Me! show. As expected, the lack of medicating and sufficient sleep set me back in health recovery. But it was worth it.

First, let me say The Blue Note is a fun venue. It's huge and has a balcony and gilded archways. Fake Problems opened. They were pretty good, especially for an opening act. Riverboat Gamblers next. They had a lot of energy but slowed down a little toward the end of their set because (they claimed) they were all sick. Then Against Me! I sat through the first two bands, but when they opened with A Brief Yet Triumphant Intermission, I had to rise. It was one of the best shows I have seen in a long time.

Today, when I got home from work, I had a letter in the mail from Interstate Bakeries. It contained a hard copy of the email I received AND two certificates for any Interstate Bakeries product (e.g. Hostess, Wonder Bread, etc.) It reminded me of my grandmother who wrote letters to companies when their products failed in some way. Once, she wrote a company about a defective alarm clock. They sent her a written apology and a new clock in the mail. Due to a clerical error, the next month she received the same letter and another clock. She ended up getting three or four alarm clocks.

The Elusive and Endangered Chocodile

When I was around 12 or 13, my grandmother used to give me Hostess Chocodiles as an afternoon snack. Admittedly, these were unusual treats. I had never seen them in stores. But nevertheless, she had them. What is a chocodile? It is essentially a chocolate covered Twinkee. But for some reason, the combination of the two was greater than the sum of its parts. So about a week ago I was feeling particularly nostalgic so I contacted the Interstate Bakeries company about the whereabouts of the Chocodile.

According to their email response, Chocodiles are now only produced on the west coast. They did direct me to sites that offer quick and efficient delivery of the confection. But why does there need to be a middle man? There is a Hostess factory in KC. When I get to the left coast someday, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for this guy.

Don't hold your breath...

As has been reported by most papers that subscribe to the AP (read: every lazy paper in America), Springfield is in a sort of competition...by default (the two greatest word in the English language). I think the only resemblance that SpringMo has to the "real" Springfield is the abundance of Reverend Lovejoys and Flanderseses.

I was talking to a women at a bar this weekend from upstate New York. She seemed genuinely surprised at the large number of smokers. I know Missouri uses a lot of tobacco (Number 3...oh yeah...we're after you Kentucky and North Carolina), but is it that much more than the rest of the nation? In reading Hangsaman, like most Jackson, smoking is about as common than blinking. The 17 year old protagonist recalls her parents encouraging her and instructing her how to smoke, I suppose, to be more social or ladylike. Keep in mind this is the 1950s. Is there something like that today? Something that parents encourage their kids to do to be more social at events like cocktail parties? What happened to cocktail parties? Am I still too young for witty banter and conversation? I think not.

I didn't have much to say to her about New York except to rattle off some fairs in the state. Everything is relative to fairs now. "San Antonio, eh? Your Livestock Exposition had record attendance this year. Good for you."

Hangsaman

I was discussing pre-torn jeans with my friend Marcus last night. They of course are ridiculous. You get a lesser product, both in quantity and quality. Also, they don't really make much sense. Who over the age of 10 makes holes in the knees of their pants. Real jeans tears are unfashionable. I wore a hole at the corner of the seat pocket of one of my jeans. I can't walk around like that and claim "Hey, it's the fashion."

I will be attending the Against Me! concert this week. However, I have not completely decided if I am going to Columbia or St. Louis. I didn't realize it takes just about as long to get to Columbia as St. Louis. I'm still leaning toward Columbia. If anyone has suggestions, I'll gladly take them .

I'm reading Hangsaman right now. (Don't let that awful cover fool you.) It's about a schitzo soon-to-be college student. I think it is written pre-Bell Jar. (After quick and possibly inaccurate research, it was)

Feel better overall today but sound worse.

Turkey in the Rain

I don't remember what show it was (maybe West Wing or ER) but a wise character was teaching a naive some valuable life lesson with an allegory. It was something along the lines of turkeys will keep drinking falling rain until they drown themselves. Then touching music followed while Mr. Naive stared at Mr. Wise who was walking away.

I just thought of that because it feels like I am drowning in post nasal drip. I've woken in the middle of the night because my wind pipe was so clogged. It's more annoying than dangerous. I woke up two hours earlier than I normally do last night and had to take some Alka-Seltzer (or Elixir of the Gods). At this point, I may just get some whiskey to clean to clear things up. I'm no doctor, but that seems like a reasonable treatment.

I'm watching the Blues game. I am so gratefu for the FSN network. Otherwise, I would be dependent on one game a week on NBC between two teams that they think we will want to watch (just because I live in the midwest doesn't mean I want to watch Chicago). Even then it is hit or miss. One week, the Blues were playing on NBC. I was excited. They were still in the playoff hunt. I shit you not, the game was pre-empted after the first period for a MSU Bears basketball game. Not just any game: the game was also being broadcast on another channel. Turns out the Blues game went into overtime and MSU got blown out. But who pre-empts a game after only one period. Give me all the game or none. Don't tease me. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, hooray for FSN.

I bought another pair of faux-chucks from No Sweat. While chucks should have some amount of wear on them, my right shoe lost the paneling on the outside during the Flogging Molly show. If I had the piece I would rubber cement it, but it is lost in Pop's lore now.

Kumquats or Raisinets

I have been leaking mucous for the past couple of days. I am not sure if it is a cold or allergies or a little of both. But whatever the cause, it is quite annoying. I wake up with a sore throat and sick to my stomach which is full of post nasal drip snot. Good image, I know.

When at the gracery store today, I was waiting in line for the self check out. The two guys in front of me were self-checking produce. I was worried they wouldn't make it because there was no barcode. They made it. Then, when it was my turn, I raced the lady next to me. She had a head start and fewer things. I lost...but barely.

I am kind of getting into the general flow of work. It can get busy when an issue needs to go to print, but it slows down significantly in between it going to press and it coming back from press.

I found out that my GA poetry teacher won third place in a poetry contest last year. There is hope for us all, I swear.

21 Century Orphans

Well, it has been a long time since I've posted here. It just simply fell to the wayside. There was nothing to keep me reminded about it. And when I did remember it, I didn't really care. But recently I have been interested in the "new Web 2.0" whatever that means. Apparently there are cool things I can do with all this new technology in exchange for a chipping away at personal privacy. But hey, at least I can link to monkeys doing it. (I am not searching for it so I am not really going to post a link, you sick people).

Since I last posted, I have graduated and found a new job. I got to write "writer" on my tax return this year. How satisfying that is!

Now that I have a 9 to 5, I should, in theory, have more consistent free time. I want to write more in that free time. But pure laziness is keeping me from doing that. (Let's call a spade a spade here.) So I will try to write in this blog much more often, try to network in the old blogosphere, and get more involved in this whole thing. I just need to write more, in general. no matter what it's about.

I will be back later to keep the promise.

Fight PC!

I hate 'social obligation.' I usually feel this in smaller social situations For example:

When I haven't seen someone in a while but didn't realize it.

Them: Did you miss me?
Me: Well, no...

Did you see what that was? I was supposed to say 'yes.' Even if it was a lie, I was supposed to say 'yes.'

I experienced a bigger source of social obligation this weekend.While at Christmas Mass, a girl walked to the podium to sing a solo of "O Holy Night." Before she sang a note I knew that the audience was going to applaud. It is the same song every year. Of course there was applause at the end of the song. (A lady behind me applauded prematurely. There must be some reward for initiating social traditions) I didn't applaud. It wasn't bad, but it didn't move me to show my gratitude.

What is applause? Isn't it used to indicate to a performer that they had a performance so moving to the audience that they feel compelled to show their gratitude? A standing ovation should be an even stronger indication of appreciation. However, these actions have cheapened to such an extent that we must applaud everything.

This is probably related to my seasonal fight against political correctness. I will wish whomever I want a 'Merry Christmas.' If someone wished me a 'Happy Hannakuh' I wouldn't be offended. I'd say 'Thank you.' The fact is it is Hannakuh and it is Christmas and sometimes it is Ramadan (Let's face it is never Kwanzaa.) If someone wished me a Shalom on Yom Kippur I'd say "Thank you. You too." Just because I'm not Jewish doesn't mean it isn't Hannakuh right now.

I'm not existential.

Okay that's it for now.

Homeostasis

I feel like I am slowly getting back to normal. This semester has been the hardest of my educational career. At times, however, I have had some of the greatest and most rewarding experiences. The lows have been the lowest, but the highs the highest. I know that's vague but I don't care. If you know me, you'll know what I am talking about.

That being said, the lows have mostly been things that are temporary. School work, work work, some family things.

I haven't been too broken up over my parents separating. It was inevitable and necessary.

The highs this semester have undoubtedly been amazing. I have made some very good friends this semster and got to know some older friends better. Friends are my favorite part of life.

My anxiety level has decreased dramatically. There is finally a light at the end of this semester.

I found some fun, free music.

This last weekend was fun I saw Junebug at the Moxie, Jerry Seinfeld at JKHHPA, the funkadelic (or was it funkalicious?) C-Club at the Outland, and Santa riding an elephant. All with my best friend. What more could I ask?

A Fable

Once, there were two friends named Joseph and Henry. They went to the forest on a crisp autumn day to go camping. They set up camp under a large maple tree that was glowing with red and orange leaves. They started a campfire and made dinner. The crisp autumn day slipped into a cold, dark night. They threw on more and more logs to keep the fire going. The flames reached higher and higher. Neither one thought about why they kept throwing on more logs but both continued to pile on the firewood. The flames soon kissed the leaves of the maple tree. As the friends were reaching for more wood, a couple singed leaves fell to the ground between them. They looked at the leaves and then at each other.

"We must stop throwing logs onto this fire, Joseph," said Henry.

"I agree," said Joseph, "If we don't, we may burn down the entire forest."

The two friends then sat in their chairs and watched their creation slowly recede. The flames melted under the maple tree ever so slowly.

"I think it's time to hit the hay," said Henry.

"I am not ready to go to sleep yet," said Joseph, "You go on ahead I am going to sit by our fire a little while longer."

Henry went into the tent and fell into a deep slumber. Joseph sat by the fire and watched it slowly die. He noticed the tiny sparks that came out of the wetter, green wood. He watched the hot coals brooding under the house of flame. The evening passed and Joseph continued to stand vigil over the campfire. The flames shrank to Joseph height, then to his waist, and to just enough to peek out over the last of the wood. Joseph followed the tiny puff of smoke the the final flame released with its last breath. The sky lightened as the coals faded. Joseph shivered violently but continued to sit close to the once majestic campfire. The sun peered over the horizon and some of the coals faded. The sun was halfway exposed when one coal remained.
The one coal, Joseph observed, began at a constant light but began to flicker and fade as if winking. Henry emerged from the tent.

"You're up early," said Henry.

"I never left," said Joseph.

Henry was perplexed

"Why are you staring at those ashes?" asked Henry.

"I'm not," said Joseph, "I am watching the last bit of our fire."

The final coal blinked on and off. The pauses between the lit became longer and the lit time became shorter. Finally, the coal winked at Joseph its last time.

"How could you sit there and watch that all night?" asked Henry.

"How could you go to bed?" asked Joseph.

The friends looked at each other and tried to figure out what had changed.

"Let's go," said Joseph.

The men tore down the tent and packed all their gear. Before they left the forest, Joseph looked at the pile of ashes one last time. He picked up his gear and headed home.

Drop the Pop...er.. Soda.

Well, it has certainly been much better this week than last.

I got my car back today, new transmission and all. My next investment in the car will be a sledge hammer...So I can beat the SHIT out of it.

I am listening to None More Black. I think this is pretty good writing music. Not to hard to be distracting but not so soft to put me and my senses to sleep.

Even though I haven't had a car for a week, I haven't felt to terrible about it. Look at Gulf Coast for christ's sake!

Story is coming along. It has taken a back seat to other things. My procrastination will come back to bite me in the ass. But I don't have to worry about that now.

Got a new CD in the mail yesterday. It rocks my socks. And only 5 songs. Who knew?

Off work Friday. It's the little things.

Impending doom and other hyperbole

I am feeling awful about work.

I was told to stop giving the new people a hard time, namely the new girls. Just because I have an ingrained sense of duty that makes me more masochistic than I'd like to believe, doesn't mean that I am not a faithful worker.

Mom's going to lose her job. Thank you Bush's America.

I am listening to Kid Dynamite's CBGB reunion. Where would I be without music? I am too frightened to answer that.

First week of class and I already feel the weight of 18 hours grinding me into the dirt.

Story is coming along quite nicely, however.

I am in such a funk. Need something, some person, some idea new.

Since August 1st, huh? Let's recap.

I went home a couple weekends ago. It's still the same. Everyone is the same except my grandparents. They are unfortunately older. I went to my last Cards game at THE Busch Stadium. Nose bleed seats. Just how I like it.

I continue to have the feeling that I am being increasingly difficult to be around. I lash out at people. I do end up regretting it. Not only that but I am so mopey around my freinds. This is true until a particular element is added: Alcohol, specifically beer.

A couple nights ago I went to a party for the first time in a long time. I got to see a bunch of old friends and I felt comfortable thanks, in part, to my lowered social inhibitions throught the use of beer. I have two theories on this:

A. I am becoming a dependent alcoholic. I don't think this is too likely because I really don't drink that much. I work to often to have time to drink.

B. My own personal social inhibitions are ridiculously high. In other words, I think I may have a case of social anxiety. (I don't believe it is a disorder so it isn't a case of SAD).

School, school, school. I got all A's during the summer. That was grand. The 18 hours next semester is quite intimidating. We'll see how that works out.

Vice-President Cheney is in town today and there is a disappointing (and disturbing) lack of protestors.

My tape deck in my car is starting to die on me. This hurts me more than when I had my front end smashed up. I am praying that it won't die for the next, oh, 5 years. Not likely. If I decide to put a CD player in it, it will be interesting to see the stereo guys try to find a place of it in the dash of a Buick Skylark.

I like have old people possesions. My old person car, the car seat beads, my salvation army furniture, my old person shoes (they're so comfortable). Maybe it is ironic or maybe I just like comfort over fashion. Maybe a little from column A and a little from column B.

Yeah for hockey!

Wake up

Well, I finally posted again. I always think of stuff to write at the most inconvienient times.

Here's my rant of the day. I like punk music.
My favorite bands are Kid Dynamite, The Briggs, (old)Link 80. See any connection? Those raspy, straining, gritty vocals just get me pumped up.

Kid Dynamite is reuniting at CBGB's in New York. I am jealous.

Spanish is getting better.

This is good news.

post-birthday musings

I have now been on this earth for 21 years.

I think I've learned a lot. (Obviously, I learned how to be verbose. Just look at that opening line.)

I drank gin, gin & tonics, whiskey, gin & tonic and Sierra Mist, Everclear, gin & Sierra Mist. This was all consumed early Tuesday morning in the span of about one and half or two hours.

Tuesday day, Greg came down and I had a pretty good time. I felt bad that I wasn't in full blown crazy "it's my birthday" mode. I think that's what Greg and everyone else expected from me. I just wasn't in the mood. After we went to th ebars however, I was having a good time just trying different beers.

I wanted to go to a drive in again but it was raing around us so I didn't want to get stuck in the mud in middle of cornfed nowhere.

Upon further review

I took out that photo.

I can't stand to look at it everytime I get on this blog.

That's all for today.

Vain and Wicked

This is a photo of me. It is the only image of me on the internet. I don't think that is a good thing. Let me put this picture in context. As you may or may not see, I am wearing my Briggs shirt. I am drinking a CAN of Miller High Life. It is probably 10 in the morning. It was taken during Christmas break. I was feebly trying to grow a beard before I went back to work. I just got itchy. Seriously. This is probably how I will look on Tuesday. Smiling and holding a beer. Only this time, it will be legal.

I know not too many, if any, people have seen this site. I still have to post and start adding my page to other ones. Oh well. I am working on a new story. I hope to have it done before school starts.

Nothing new. Work still sucks. I want to go to a drive-in at least once this summer.

Fun time is over.

Baseball

Check out this link:

World Baseball Classic lineups


I would really like to see this happen.