what the hell is up with the college football bowl series lately? i seem to remember, back when i was a kid, if a football team wanted to be in a bowl, they pretty much had to be undefeated or have lost something like one game or MAYBE two games. now there are teams who have lost almost half their games whose bowls are getting advertised all the fuck over television. i just saw a commercial for a bowl game featuring a team that's 8-4 versus a team that's 7-6. how the hell do these teams get to play in bowl games? are there just more bowl games than there were before? what the hell happened? and how the flying fuck is LSU even playing for the national title after losing 2 games?! when has that ever happened before? i'm pretty sure never. and one of their losses was to Kentucky. the world is collapsing!
in related news, the patriots are still going to lose this season. at some point. the giants could have beaten them if they were at all capable of being consistent. but watching the patriots play for the last three weeks has confirmed my hypothesis (at least in my mind) that their "fantastic" and "perfect" team has done exactly what i expected they would do: simultaneously win every regular season game and completely lose the ability to improvise or think on their feet. if they run into a team who can force them to change their game plan, they're going to lose. and i'm going to laugh. and eat a sandwich. one of those things i'm actually going to do now.
Monday, December 31, 2007
thoughts on the holidays and space cacti
i decided to split my marathon post up into two posts because otherwise nobody, including me, would be willing to commit to reading the entire thing.
YOU'VE BEEN FOOLED!
now that you feel obligated to finish reading by way of my trickery, i'll continue.
it seems weird to let another holiday season pass by with me having a blog and not taking the time to write down tons of completely unfounded blather about american consumerism and act like my opinions about christmas are empirically provable fact and anyone who disagrees will be badly hurt in a physical manner. so here goes.
this christmas season has passed largely similarly to the last few, except for the susan's gig and all the action leading up to it. i've talked about that enough to last a dog's life, so i'll avoiding further digression. i came in from pullman, spent a few days deflating and finishing grading, then came up to kent, engaged in debauchery, went home, more debauchery, got drunk, missed church, woke up late, got lots of presents that i didn't deserve, felt guilty about being too cheap to really get anyone any good gifts, spent a few days scheming a way to get my instruments up to kent from canton, took care of that, watched a lot of TiVo, plotted filling my stomach with a huge Chipotle burrito so that i can drink for 10 straight hours tonight and not die, and everything else will likely play out according to plan and wind up with a few days of me sitting at my parents' house hurriedly finishing my lesson plans for next week and then the final emotional and physical turmoil of flying back to pullman mere instants before i have to start working again.
i'm definitely glad i got to come back here for break again, but it's also always really strange. on one hand, you have my parents/family, who are, in a lot of ways, used to a much different type of lifestyle than i am, and while i'm glad they don't really seem to think i need to be a lot like them to not suck, i still sort of feel like i stick out like a sore thumb. i suppose that's the weird balancing act that comes with having older family members and especially parents: on one hand, you feel like you're not necessarily good enough to live up to their expectations, but on the other hand, you often feel like the things you do actually think you do well sort of fly by because, well, let's face it, in the 10 years since you spent every living moment in your parents' house, you and they have kind of stopped having lots of things in common.
i just realized i nested the "on the one hand" expression inside of another instance of said expression and didn't finish the original instance of that expression. so here goes:
on the other hand, i have the whole scene in kent with my friends from KSU and the surrounding area, who all definitely get what it's like to be in the position that i'm in existentially, financially, etc. i'm also more certain on what their expectations of me are, at least for the most part. it's a much more stable environment in that sense, but less so in the sense that i don't have my own transportation, or my own food, or really any sort of personal space or schedule-planning ability.
i don't really know what i'm trying to get at; i think i'm just ruminating because i'm really freaking hungry and i don't want to start working on my lesson plans.
being with my family was really great this christmas again, and even though it seems everybody is getting more and more fed up with christmas-as-shoppingasm, it seems like they're actually scaling back the present-buying a little and focusing more on keeping themselves happy first, which is good (at least in my opinion).
the christmas gig we were going to do at the behavioral center didn't work out and neither did going to rochester, but all in all i think it's been a pretty great vacation, considering the amount of living that has to fit into 2 or 3 weeks. there's never enough hours in the day, really. i think regret is a natural consequence of time. which isn't to say there's not a yang to that, because there is. i'm just too hungry to figure out what it is right now.
YOU'VE BEEN FOOLED!
now that you feel obligated to finish reading by way of my trickery, i'll continue.
it seems weird to let another holiday season pass by with me having a blog and not taking the time to write down tons of completely unfounded blather about american consumerism and act like my opinions about christmas are empirically provable fact and anyone who disagrees will be badly hurt in a physical manner. so here goes.
this christmas season has passed largely similarly to the last few, except for the susan's gig and all the action leading up to it. i've talked about that enough to last a dog's life, so i'll avoiding further digression. i came in from pullman, spent a few days deflating and finishing grading, then came up to kent, engaged in debauchery, went home, more debauchery, got drunk, missed church, woke up late, got lots of presents that i didn't deserve, felt guilty about being too cheap to really get anyone any good gifts, spent a few days scheming a way to get my instruments up to kent from canton, took care of that, watched a lot of TiVo, plotted filling my stomach with a huge Chipotle burrito so that i can drink for 10 straight hours tonight and not die, and everything else will likely play out according to plan and wind up with a few days of me sitting at my parents' house hurriedly finishing my lesson plans for next week and then the final emotional and physical turmoil of flying back to pullman mere instants before i have to start working again.
i'm definitely glad i got to come back here for break again, but it's also always really strange. on one hand, you have my parents/family, who are, in a lot of ways, used to a much different type of lifestyle than i am, and while i'm glad they don't really seem to think i need to be a lot like them to not suck, i still sort of feel like i stick out like a sore thumb. i suppose that's the weird balancing act that comes with having older family members and especially parents: on one hand, you feel like you're not necessarily good enough to live up to their expectations, but on the other hand, you often feel like the things you do actually think you do well sort of fly by because, well, let's face it, in the 10 years since you spent every living moment in your parents' house, you and they have kind of stopped having lots of things in common.
i just realized i nested the "on the one hand" expression inside of another instance of said expression and didn't finish the original instance of that expression. so here goes:
on the other hand, i have the whole scene in kent with my friends from KSU and the surrounding area, who all definitely get what it's like to be in the position that i'm in existentially, financially, etc. i'm also more certain on what their expectations of me are, at least for the most part. it's a much more stable environment in that sense, but less so in the sense that i don't have my own transportation, or my own food, or really any sort of personal space or schedule-planning ability.
i don't really know what i'm trying to get at; i think i'm just ruminating because i'm really freaking hungry and i don't want to start working on my lesson plans.
being with my family was really great this christmas again, and even though it seems everybody is getting more and more fed up with christmas-as-shoppingasm, it seems like they're actually scaling back the present-buying a little and focusing more on keeping themselves happy first, which is good (at least in my opinion).
the christmas gig we were going to do at the behavioral center didn't work out and neither did going to rochester, but all in all i think it's been a pretty great vacation, considering the amount of living that has to fit into 2 or 3 weeks. there's never enough hours in the day, really. i think regret is a natural consequence of time. which isn't to say there's not a yang to that, because there is. i'm just too hungry to figure out what it is right now.
'bout to pop a cap in an ass
yet again, insomnia is having its brutal, evil way with me this morning. i actually went to bed (though not technically bed, since i'm sleeping on a couch) last night around 2:30am, which is early compared to when i've been going to bed lately. figured i'd earned it after staying up till 7am working on this new recording the night before. unfortunately, i woke up around 7am this morning for some godforsaken reason and wasn't able to get back to sleep. now it's 9:30 and the day is officially in full swing; i had had hopes of eventually collapsing back into pleasant unconsciousness, but it's starting to seem less and less likely. i finished separating the show from the other night into tracks, but i think i'm going to hold off on the actual mixing until i can listen on a better set of speakers. the sound is really good; i'm told that this is because we accidentally did a partial soundboard recording instead of a full-on audience recording. i'm pretty sure that's the first time i've ever screwed something up and had the result be actually better than it would have been had i did things correctly. though to be fair, mike was the one who hooked the things up in the first place, so props to him for the "mistake".
i went back and listened to the tape again this morning, or at least parts of it. we sound a lot better than we should considering nobody but me knew any of these songs until a week ago and we practiced a combined 8 or so hours. i'm happy with it. now i'm just trying to figure out how to do a show by myself that i can shop around pullman and moscow. first things first; guess i should get my car patched up and figure out what the hell i'm doing about my classes.
there were a few pictures taken at the show and the previous day's rehearsal at the church, but they weren't on my camera, so i'm working on getting those. i've pretty much let hair and beard hygiene go completely since break started, so perhaps i shouldn't be so excited about posting pictures of myself.
regardless, we may or may not be recording some stuff at the church tomorrow, i'm going to be working on lesson plans all morning, then sending 2007 back to where it came from by drinking until i can't see and talk in entirely consonants. probably more progress on the recordings next week, after tuesday.
i'm wondering about this insomnia thing. it could of course just have something to do with changing my sleeping arrangements every few days, i guess. normally when i have trouble sleeping it's because i'm worrying about something. i mean, i've got a lot of stuff on my mind, but i haven't really "worrying" about any of it, per se.
there's the matter of planning my classes, which actually shouldn't be too difficult because i still have a week of doing pretty much nothing else to get it done in, and most of the work has already been done in the previous five semesters. i don't have to print any new essays, reading packets, or anything like that. i just have to show up tuesday and go at it.
i'm a little worried about my car, considering i'm still in significantly more dire financial straits than i had projected i would be in june (to the tune of, say, four figures more dire) and most definitely need a working vehicle sometime in the next five months, since i will no longer have a job after that, and will probably need to drive around to find a new one. this also raises the concern that i might not be able to get to my much-anticipated back-to-back ryan adams shows at the end of january; which would be a little depressing, considering it's pretty much the only extraneous expense i'm allowing myself this entire semester. okay, so THAT'S something i'm actually "worried" about.
there's the matter of what to do about this whole music thing also. i'd like to keep playing shows, but the fact is that i was really only able to manage pulling this show off even with the help of lots and lots of other people (including musicians) and someone else's PA. i'm not sure how often places are capable of providing their own PA, but i'm imagining that one of those fuckers is pretty expensive, and i'm certainly not going to be rolling in dough anytime soon. there's also the matter of working at a job which routinely had me in my office or related location 12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week last semester, which doesn't leave a lot of time for schedule extracurricular activities. on the other hand, playing that show was really fun, now i know the songs and am comfortable enough to keep playing them, and it seems like a great way to build experience and also keep me sort of forcibly engaged with the music end of things, so that i don't do what i usually do and just sort of work a little on playing and writing whenever i feel like it and then sort of let things slide for a month, etc., etc. i think it would be good for me to be accountable to something other than myself alone when it comes to music, at least to keep me on a reasonable work schedule as far as practicing and writing goes. i guess it'll depend on how many places in the pullman/moscow area have a PA. sigh. no wonder everybody talks about being a performing musician but nobody actually does it.
aside from all those fun things, there's the matter of getting ready to leave ohio and the seventy million people i know here, stop taking 10 hours a day to do whatever i want, and get used to living alone and working all week again, which doesn't sound like much fun, but of course needs to be done because that's generally how people stay alive. by working, i mean.
i'm in the midst of confirming that all my grad applications have been received. still not sure that i'm going to get in anywhere. still not sure if i'll go even if i do. still have no idea how i'm even going to make that decision if/when i have to. fortunately, at least three of the five schools have all my materials. so that's something. my shitty, shitty materials.
also of course having the usual feelings-for-girls-related problems too. everybody knows my feelings about blogging about those types of things, but being around my friends here and also it being the holiday season both seem to exacerbate said feelings, so it's not a good combination in that regard.
good thing i'm not worrying about any of this stuff. otherwise i'd be worried :)
i went back and listened to the tape again this morning, or at least parts of it. we sound a lot better than we should considering nobody but me knew any of these songs until a week ago and we practiced a combined 8 or so hours. i'm happy with it. now i'm just trying to figure out how to do a show by myself that i can shop around pullman and moscow. first things first; guess i should get my car patched up and figure out what the hell i'm doing about my classes.
there were a few pictures taken at the show and the previous day's rehearsal at the church, but they weren't on my camera, so i'm working on getting those. i've pretty much let hair and beard hygiene go completely since break started, so perhaps i shouldn't be so excited about posting pictures of myself.
regardless, we may or may not be recording some stuff at the church tomorrow, i'm going to be working on lesson plans all morning, then sending 2007 back to where it came from by drinking until i can't see and talk in entirely consonants. probably more progress on the recordings next week, after tuesday.
i'm wondering about this insomnia thing. it could of course just have something to do with changing my sleeping arrangements every few days, i guess. normally when i have trouble sleeping it's because i'm worrying about something. i mean, i've got a lot of stuff on my mind, but i haven't really "worrying" about any of it, per se.
there's the matter of planning my classes, which actually shouldn't be too difficult because i still have a week of doing pretty much nothing else to get it done in, and most of the work has already been done in the previous five semesters. i don't have to print any new essays, reading packets, or anything like that. i just have to show up tuesday and go at it.
i'm a little worried about my car, considering i'm still in significantly more dire financial straits than i had projected i would be in june (to the tune of, say, four figures more dire) and most definitely need a working vehicle sometime in the next five months, since i will no longer have a job after that, and will probably need to drive around to find a new one. this also raises the concern that i might not be able to get to my much-anticipated back-to-back ryan adams shows at the end of january; which would be a little depressing, considering it's pretty much the only extraneous expense i'm allowing myself this entire semester. okay, so THAT'S something i'm actually "worried" about.
there's the matter of what to do about this whole music thing also. i'd like to keep playing shows, but the fact is that i was really only able to manage pulling this show off even with the help of lots and lots of other people (including musicians) and someone else's PA. i'm not sure how often places are capable of providing their own PA, but i'm imagining that one of those fuckers is pretty expensive, and i'm certainly not going to be rolling in dough anytime soon. there's also the matter of working at a job which routinely had me in my office or related location 12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week last semester, which doesn't leave a lot of time for schedule extracurricular activities. on the other hand, playing that show was really fun, now i know the songs and am comfortable enough to keep playing them, and it seems like a great way to build experience and also keep me sort of forcibly engaged with the music end of things, so that i don't do what i usually do and just sort of work a little on playing and writing whenever i feel like it and then sort of let things slide for a month, etc., etc. i think it would be good for me to be accountable to something other than myself alone when it comes to music, at least to keep me on a reasonable work schedule as far as practicing and writing goes. i guess it'll depend on how many places in the pullman/moscow area have a PA. sigh. no wonder everybody talks about being a performing musician but nobody actually does it.
aside from all those fun things, there's the matter of getting ready to leave ohio and the seventy million people i know here, stop taking 10 hours a day to do whatever i want, and get used to living alone and working all week again, which doesn't sound like much fun, but of course needs to be done because that's generally how people stay alive. by working, i mean.
i'm in the midst of confirming that all my grad applications have been received. still not sure that i'm going to get in anywhere. still not sure if i'll go even if i do. still have no idea how i'm even going to make that decision if/when i have to. fortunately, at least three of the five schools have all my materials. so that's something. my shitty, shitty materials.
also of course having the usual feelings-for-girls-related problems too. everybody knows my feelings about blogging about those types of things, but being around my friends here and also it being the holiday season both seem to exacerbate said feelings, so it's not a good combination in that regard.
good thing i'm not worrying about any of this stuff. otherwise i'd be worried :)
Sunday, December 30, 2007
@ Susan's
i've been awake for a very significant portion of the last three days and it's 430am now and a cold leather couch is calling my name, so i'll make this brief, but i wanted to just say quickly that i played at Susan's tonight (finally) with an actual group of people instead of my solo acoustic self. i think we did well considering that we had only 2 or 3 days of practices and i had never played in front of an audience not by myself before. turns out it's a lot harder to play along with other people than it is to just play by yourself. much more fun, yes, but also much more difficult. the result was that there were a lot of little screwups on my part lyrically and musically (i almost never miss chords, but seemed to be missing them like crazy tonight). we had to cut a few songs from the original ideal setlist to clock in at our 2 hour alloted time (we got there a few minutes late and our planned 5 minute break ended up running more like 15 for various reasons). all in all, though, it was a good experience. we practiced all week at mike's church in highland square, and i'm actually trying to get an expedition together to go back over there sometime this week and record a live set because i love the church and the sound in the church so much...but it's going to sort of rest on how free everyone else is and how easy it's going to be to once again move a drum kit from canton to akron. we'll see. for now, here's what we did end up playing tonight:
acoustic set:
angel from montgomery (john prine cover)
autumnsong
hey sue
winding wheel (ryan adams cover)
millie
back to ohio
california stars (wilco/billy bragg cover)
lady gray
i still miss someone (johnny cash cover)
dusty roads
friend of the devil (grateful dead cover)
electric set:
enemy
dreamed i was god
palace
not the one i see
the melody
love song in d
molly
sunshine
sample in a jar (phish cover)
not california
once i go back through and listen to the recording again, i'll mark off where everybody was playing what; justin ended up playing percussion on just about every song but the first 2 or 3, andrea jumped in with vocals and/or violin on a few songs, and mike alternated pretty frequently between playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and bass guitar. it was really fun, and practice leading up to it was really fun. the performance itself, quality-wise was, as i said earlier, "not as good as i'd hoped, but better than i feared". for my first time, i'm willing to take that as a win. and i say that reflecting completely on my own performance...having everyone else playing on these songs made them 100 times better-sounding and a 1000 times more fun to play. if i hadn't had to sing, mike and justin probably could have just played by themselves and it would have sounded much better :)
anyway, we made a recording, which was thrown together at the last minute when i realized i forgot the adapter for my mixing board at home. surprisingly, it sounds really good, but we recorded with two mics on two channels. so basically i need to go back through and mix each channel separately and then combine them into one mono track before the recording will be entirely listenable. i'm sure that'll be my project for the next few days, but i'll let you all know when it's done, because i know there were at least a few people who wanted copies.
alright, well i'm off to sleepyland. tomorrow it's back to grad school applications. i can't believe i was complaining about having to just play music all day :)
acoustic set:
angel from montgomery (john prine cover)
autumnsong
hey sue
winding wheel (ryan adams cover)
millie
back to ohio
california stars (wilco/billy bragg cover)
lady gray
i still miss someone (johnny cash cover)
dusty roads
friend of the devil (grateful dead cover)
electric set:
enemy
dreamed i was god
palace
not the one i see
the melody
love song in d
molly
sunshine
sample in a jar (phish cover)
not california
once i go back through and listen to the recording again, i'll mark off where everybody was playing what; justin ended up playing percussion on just about every song but the first 2 or 3, andrea jumped in with vocals and/or violin on a few songs, and mike alternated pretty frequently between playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and bass guitar. it was really fun, and practice leading up to it was really fun. the performance itself, quality-wise was, as i said earlier, "not as good as i'd hoped, but better than i feared". for my first time, i'm willing to take that as a win. and i say that reflecting completely on my own performance...having everyone else playing on these songs made them 100 times better-sounding and a 1000 times more fun to play. if i hadn't had to sing, mike and justin probably could have just played by themselves and it would have sounded much better :)
anyway, we made a recording, which was thrown together at the last minute when i realized i forgot the adapter for my mixing board at home. surprisingly, it sounds really good, but we recorded with two mics on two channels. so basically i need to go back through and mix each channel separately and then combine them into one mono track before the recording will be entirely listenable. i'm sure that'll be my project for the next few days, but i'll let you all know when it's done, because i know there were at least a few people who wanted copies.
alright, well i'm off to sleepyland. tomorrow it's back to grad school applications. i can't believe i was complaining about having to just play music all day :)
Saturday, December 22, 2007
reese's pieces and diet coke...
...is what's for breakfast this morning.
after a long night of drinking the infamous Great Lakes Christmas Ale, precipitated by a fortuitous confluence of myself and various cars full of kent people, i woke up this morning with a terrible headache and a bizarre sense of dislocation...according to urbandictionary.com, this is known as a "hangover".
fortunately, just sitting around on the couch watching crappy cable all day is such a novel experience for me that i'm willing to roll with the head pain just to experience it. i'm supposed to be going to see andrea's gig tonight at susan's, but other than that, there's nothing on the menu.
it's generally been a few nice days in a row of a little practicing, a little sleeping, a little dealing with extraneous loose ends from last semester and preparing for next semester, and a lot of nothing. i have a feeling that after another day or so, i'll probably be a little bored, but fortunately there's that whole jesus's birthday thing coming up, so things should be hopping after that. then there's the gig and new year's, and then...oh yeah, then i go back to work.
anyway, i started this blog entry awhile back because i was going to say something important, but somewhere between then and now a few shitty SciFi channel horror movies and some Fox news intervened and i've completely forgotten. hopefully things will be a bit more worth reading next time...
after a long night of drinking the infamous Great Lakes Christmas Ale, precipitated by a fortuitous confluence of myself and various cars full of kent people, i woke up this morning with a terrible headache and a bizarre sense of dislocation...according to urbandictionary.com, this is known as a "hangover".
fortunately, just sitting around on the couch watching crappy cable all day is such a novel experience for me that i'm willing to roll with the head pain just to experience it. i'm supposed to be going to see andrea's gig tonight at susan's, but other than that, there's nothing on the menu.
it's generally been a few nice days in a row of a little practicing, a little sleeping, a little dealing with extraneous loose ends from last semester and preparing for next semester, and a lot of nothing. i have a feeling that after another day or so, i'll probably be a little bored, but fortunately there's that whole jesus's birthday thing coming up, so things should be hopping after that. then there's the gig and new year's, and then...oh yeah, then i go back to work.
anyway, i started this blog entry awhile back because i was going to say something important, but somewhere between then and now a few shitty SciFi channel horror movies and some Fox news intervened and i've completely forgotten. hopefully things will be a bit more worth reading next time...
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
been a long time since i rock and rolled...
so a lot has happened between the denver airport and here; i just haven't had much time to blog about it. and the 300mhz computer (P1, 16MB of RAM) i would have to do it on hasn't proven too excited to subject to my normal marathon-style blogging. but now i'm up at 697 marilyn, at the lord-of-sheffield-in-exile's pad, siphoning wireless bandwidth for my laptop. good times.
so far this break i've accomplished figuring final grades, catching up at least a little on sleep, kicking total ass at Return of the King for playstation 2, and trying to get these songs figured out before the gig. that's taking up most of my free time, and i don't know that i'll work much on planning my class until the gig is over, partially because the terror won't set in until then anyway, and partially because i can only do one thing with fear as the primary motivation at once.
mike and justin and i practiced a bit the other night, and let me tell you, these songs sound a million times fuller with percussion in them. it was really exciting. andrea and i are going to go over to mike's today to practice some more, so that should be fun; i haven't played with andrea for a really long time. i have some ideas for new riffs, new tunes floating around in my head, but with everything else going on, i don't really have the luxury of writing entire new songs while trying to rememorize 25 old ones, and still do all the socializing and 101 prep work required of me over christmas break.
andrea had a christmas-type party last night at her place, which was really fun; got to see some people i probably haven't seen in 2-3 years. and got to eat cookies, which is always a plus.
i've finally entered the technology realm with a new phone that can take pictures. not sure what i make of that, myself. i got all my mics and equipment home in working order, so it seems like we'll probably be able to not only mic everything but also do a soundboard recording of the show, which i'm excited as crap about. i keep using the word "excited", which is probably a misnomer right now, considering i'm caffeine-less and just spent 11 hours sleeping on a couch that's way too small for me and my spine feels like a giraffe tried to have sex with it. i'm not sure i'm capable of being excited about anything.
the whole work-out-my-life-over-break thing isn't going terribly well; right now i'm chalking it up to jet lag and getting used to actually living with people all day instead of being in my creepy, cave-like apartment and/or creepy, cave-like office. a few of my relationships with certain people are going in, shall we say, a less positive direction than i think is necessary, and i had hoped to gain enough presence of mind to try to improve these situations. so far, though, no go. my M.O. has mostly been really intentionally (and probably obviously) avoiding any situations where i have to handle negative feelings. this will hopefully get better after i get a little self-indulgence (i.e. being constantly drunk for a few days) out of my system.
so far this break i've accomplished figuring final grades, catching up at least a little on sleep, kicking total ass at Return of the King for playstation 2, and trying to get these songs figured out before the gig. that's taking up most of my free time, and i don't know that i'll work much on planning my class until the gig is over, partially because the terror won't set in until then anyway, and partially because i can only do one thing with fear as the primary motivation at once.
mike and justin and i practiced a bit the other night, and let me tell you, these songs sound a million times fuller with percussion in them. it was really exciting. andrea and i are going to go over to mike's today to practice some more, so that should be fun; i haven't played with andrea for a really long time. i have some ideas for new riffs, new tunes floating around in my head, but with everything else going on, i don't really have the luxury of writing entire new songs while trying to rememorize 25 old ones, and still do all the socializing and 101 prep work required of me over christmas break.
andrea had a christmas-type party last night at her place, which was really fun; got to see some people i probably haven't seen in 2-3 years. and got to eat cookies, which is always a plus.
i've finally entered the technology realm with a new phone that can take pictures. not sure what i make of that, myself. i got all my mics and equipment home in working order, so it seems like we'll probably be able to not only mic everything but also do a soundboard recording of the show, which i'm excited as crap about. i keep using the word "excited", which is probably a misnomer right now, considering i'm caffeine-less and just spent 11 hours sleeping on a couch that's way too small for me and my spine feels like a giraffe tried to have sex with it. i'm not sure i'm capable of being excited about anything.
the whole work-out-my-life-over-break thing isn't going terribly well; right now i'm chalking it up to jet lag and getting used to actually living with people all day instead of being in my creepy, cave-like apartment and/or creepy, cave-like office. a few of my relationships with certain people are going in, shall we say, a less positive direction than i think is necessary, and i had hoped to gain enough presence of mind to try to improve these situations. so far, though, no go. my M.O. has mostly been really intentionally (and probably obviously) avoiding any situations where i have to handle negative feelings. this will hopefully get better after i get a little self-indulgence (i.e. being constantly drunk for a few days) out of my system.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
no sign of aliens or nazis...disappointment ensues.
so according to a bunch of partially insane, completely uncredible sources, the Denver International Airport is supposed to be home to all kinds of weird, cultish iconography, definitely involving racial supremacist rhetoric and information about aliens, and possibly information on the Colonel's secret chicken recipe, how they get jelly into donuts, and what makes those dryer sheet impart such a lovely smell to your clothes.
well, i just spent a comprehensive 45 or so minutes checking out nooks and crannies of various parts of the airport and didn't find anything but a bunch of off-brand fast food stores, a lot more bathrooms than are necessary, and that if you walk with headphones in, the dude driving the luggage cart will run your ass down with no mercy. granted, i didn't go through any of the really cool looking doors on account of not wanting to wake up in PMITA prison tomorrow, and my laptop/manbag is extremely heavy so walking is a bit of a chore anyway.
now i'm blogging from the gate because my only other choice for passing the time is obviously playing starcraft, and i think even my exceptional weirdness is not up to playing starcraft in public on my laptop. the drive up to spokane, as always, was interesting. we were having windshield problems, so we actually ended up having to strategically drive in the wake of semi trucks constantly so that the spray they kicked up would wet the windshield and allow the wipers to work. otherwise, things have gone off without a hitch, including getting my guitar, microphones, and laptop through security. we'll see how many pieces they're in when i get them back before i pass my final judgment.
i somehow managed to finish all my portfolios before leaving, despite the fact that i collected them on monday and left this morning. crazy. i basically graded for about 50 straight hours, with 2-3 hours of sleeping in there somewhere, and in that time also finished typing, printing, and mailing all my grad school applications. then last night, i was so hyped up from mainlining caffeine for two days that i fell asleep at the ripe old hour of 6am and was awakened by richard at 930 via telephone. then i didn't sleep on the plane. apparently, i don't need to sleep anymore. it's actually mostly pretty cool, except it's sort of like being drunk in that i keep having ideas that seem completely wonderful to me, but obviously aren't to anyone else, which has led me to start saying and doing things i will likely regret when i stop to think about it. also, i have the emotional stability level of a 14 year-old.
waaaaah. give me stuff!
boooo. leave me alone!
the world is misery/beautiful! let me stay out till 10 or i hate you!
those kinds of things.
it concerns me that i did not sleep on the plane. plane-sleeping is my personal substitute for sex. when i don't get any plane-sleep, i get bitchy, mostly because i know that plane-sleep won't happen again for like a year. actually, this metaphor is cooler than i thought...
my students are going to get better grades than some of them likely deserve: i know i graded high this time, but for some reason couldn't stop myself...i suppose it's better to go high than go low.
really excited about the show coming up. really excited by the idea of sleeping for a full eight hours tonight and then waking up, figuring out where the hell i am, eating, and then trying to figure out a little bit of what the fuck has happened to me since april. i will also play lots of starcraft and possibly watch movies. i will plan my classes for next semester, maybe go subway spelunking in rochester, and maybe even turn into a jet like that badass decepticon in transformers. hells yeah.
i still have an hour until my flight. might be back later.
well, i just spent a comprehensive 45 or so minutes checking out nooks and crannies of various parts of the airport and didn't find anything but a bunch of off-brand fast food stores, a lot more bathrooms than are necessary, and that if you walk with headphones in, the dude driving the luggage cart will run your ass down with no mercy. granted, i didn't go through any of the really cool looking doors on account of not wanting to wake up in PMITA prison tomorrow, and my laptop/manbag is extremely heavy so walking is a bit of a chore anyway.
now i'm blogging from the gate because my only other choice for passing the time is obviously playing starcraft, and i think even my exceptional weirdness is not up to playing starcraft in public on my laptop. the drive up to spokane, as always, was interesting. we were having windshield problems, so we actually ended up having to strategically drive in the wake of semi trucks constantly so that the spray they kicked up would wet the windshield and allow the wipers to work. otherwise, things have gone off without a hitch, including getting my guitar, microphones, and laptop through security. we'll see how many pieces they're in when i get them back before i pass my final judgment.
i somehow managed to finish all my portfolios before leaving, despite the fact that i collected them on monday and left this morning. crazy. i basically graded for about 50 straight hours, with 2-3 hours of sleeping in there somewhere, and in that time also finished typing, printing, and mailing all my grad school applications. then last night, i was so hyped up from mainlining caffeine for two days that i fell asleep at the ripe old hour of 6am and was awakened by richard at 930 via telephone. then i didn't sleep on the plane. apparently, i don't need to sleep anymore. it's actually mostly pretty cool, except it's sort of like being drunk in that i keep having ideas that seem completely wonderful to me, but obviously aren't to anyone else, which has led me to start saying and doing things i will likely regret when i stop to think about it. also, i have the emotional stability level of a 14 year-old.
waaaaah. give me stuff!
boooo. leave me alone!
the world is misery/beautiful! let me stay out till 10 or i hate you!
those kinds of things.
it concerns me that i did not sleep on the plane. plane-sleeping is my personal substitute for sex. when i don't get any plane-sleep, i get bitchy, mostly because i know that plane-sleep won't happen again for like a year. actually, this metaphor is cooler than i thought...
my students are going to get better grades than some of them likely deserve: i know i graded high this time, but for some reason couldn't stop myself...i suppose it's better to go high than go low.
really excited about the show coming up. really excited by the idea of sleeping for a full eight hours tonight and then waking up, figuring out where the hell i am, eating, and then trying to figure out a little bit of what the fuck has happened to me since april. i will also play lots of starcraft and possibly watch movies. i will plan my classes for next semester, maybe go subway spelunking in rochester, and maybe even turn into a jet like that badass decepticon in transformers. hells yeah.
i still have an hour until my flight. might be back later.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
test post
for some reason, "test post" made me think of pop-tarts. and now i'm hungry again, dammit. anyway, facebook is being wonky with mirroring my posts, so i just signed up for a plethora of blog mirroring programs and am posting to see what happens.
sorry for all of you who are waiting with bated breath for my brilliant insights on internet culture and madden screenshots, but you'll just have to wait longer. i don't get paid to rock the party, you know.
sorry for all of you who are waiting with bated breath for my brilliant insights on internet culture and madden screenshots, but you'll just have to wait longer. i don't get paid to rock the party, you know.
Friday, December 7, 2007
somethin' cookin...
since my initiation into facebook not long ago, i've become a little bit fascinated about the idea of social network websites in particular, and the dichotomy of myspace and facebook in particular. i already had a feeling that some of the concerns i had about these sites tied in somewhat tangentially to some of the ideas i've been kicking around for a dissertation (globalization/class stratifications/technology/mass information/tourism/travel lit/etc), but i ran across a few essays today online that specifically target class stratifications in myspace and facebook, and it was one of those hilariously nerdy/giddy academic experiences ("holy shit, someone else in the universe has the same crazy-ass idea i do!"). so instead of starting portfolios, i've been reading articles online all afternoon. i'll most likely be following that up a bit later with some sort of ill-considered verbal diarrhea about social networks and classism.
so brace yourselves.
so brace yourselves.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
oh my god, i'm going to die.
the AC is still on, and possibly more than yesterday. i've taken to blanketing the windowframe, and wearing at least one coat, a hat, a scarf, and typing with gloves. and i still can't feel my fingers. ah, the travails of being mutatedly tall.
Monday, December 3, 2007
MC AC
am currently getting pwn4d by the AC in fourth floor avery. it's 20 or so degrees outside; i don't understand why the AC is on...full...blast. probably karmic revenge for the fact that i've been bitching about how hot it is in here for weeks. and so it goes...
Sunday, December 2, 2007
photographic evidence of my previous claims
colder than tacos in space:
colder than space tacos:
colder than the space between hot tacos:
spacier than hot tacos:
spicier than tacos that are so hot they're cold:
my captions are stupid, and i'm an idiot:
colder than space tacos:
colder than the space between hot tacos:
spacier than hot tacos:
spicier than tacos that are so hot they're cold:
my captions are stupid, and i'm an idiot:
the siege of Pullmangrad
it's like Siberia up in this beeotch. i wake up this morning, after about a week or two of on/off snow to find...you guessed it, more snow.
i love snow, so i'm okay with this. however, now that i'm sitting up on my office with a thin glass pane between me and the elements, the wind seemingly rocking the building, the electric flickering off and on and seemingly about to go out at any moment, my trusty laptop and wi-fi my ONLY CONNECTION TO CIVILIZATION...
okay, i'm overreacting. but i still have a 20 minute hike in the snow back to the apartment which i've heard through the rumor mill might be on the side of town that currently doesn't have electricity. i am "certified" in winter survival techniques, so i guess if it comes down to it i could strangle a grad student and sleep inside of their body until the snow lets up.
today, i've been trying to put the finishing touches on these statements of goals for the newest round of graduate applications. pretty much what that means is i've been sitting around, playing guitar, blogging, and messing with my facebook profile. in my defense, i do have a writing sample pinned down now (and a pretty good one if i do say so myself), and i've also got just about everything else lined up with the exception of one university whose application process has been causing a few gray hairs (but it's about half my fault, so i have no right to complain). it's just daunting to think that i have something like 9 days to get everything arranged and mailed out before i fly out of here. i'd prolong it for longer (what else do you prolong it for?) but the truth is with portfolios to fly home and all the equipment i'm going to be trying to get home, i may just utterly fail at having room to transport anything but a few changes of clothes. that means applications are either done by the 12th of december or not done at all.
i prefer done by the 12th. but that brings me back to the statements of goals. i have many goals, and to talk about them within the confines of 2 pages and five different departments' detailed ideas of exactly what they want to know is a little daunting. this is always the hardest part of the process for me, and this time is no exception. nine days should be plenty of time, right?
on other fronts that have had a dearth of blog-related information lately, i'm still working (sort of) on the EP, though the new LP is totally not even under consideration at the moment. i came up with a few new riffs the other day and briefly considered putting some words down for them, but the truth is there's so much else going on right now musically and otherwise that i just didn't feel like branching out in another direction just yet. the amp problem turns out to be completely in my apartment wiring/interference from other apartment things, as i took it down to atom heart and the guy there plugged it in and played the most pristine, dirty-ass blues riff i've ever heard from a non-professional-band amplifier. i was stunned. let's just say that power of amplifierage i have in my possession was a) totally worth the 600 bucks b) will be absolutely nuclear if i ever live somewhere that i can play it clean. if. ever.
the good news (that was the bad news; my apartment sucks) is that i've found a way to at least semi-effectively record without much static from the amp, and i'll likely be using this recording method from here on out for the EP. it's obviously going to get done after christmas, but right now i'm looking at something like four weeks until the Susan's gig and i still don't even know all the songs i'm planning on playing. so, while learning 25 songs in the space of four weeks might be easy if that was all i was doing, it's not all i'm doing. and so i've pretty much (sadly) put new projects on hold until the show is over, or at least until i'm comfortable enough with these songs to not feel like i have to spend every second of guitar-time memorizing them. i'm planning on recording the show and uploading it somewhere, so here's hoping it doesn't totally suck.
well, i'm going to sit here in avery until either i finish a few of these goal-statements or until i run out of caffeine and resolve, or until the armor-clad, polar-bear riding Siberian warriors crash the front door and drive me out into the cold night on foot.
or until i remember there are tons of DVDs in my office, conveniently located next to my bookshelf...
i love snow, so i'm okay with this. however, now that i'm sitting up on my office with a thin glass pane between me and the elements, the wind seemingly rocking the building, the electric flickering off and on and seemingly about to go out at any moment, my trusty laptop and wi-fi my ONLY CONNECTION TO CIVILIZATION...
okay, i'm overreacting. but i still have a 20 minute hike in the snow back to the apartment which i've heard through the rumor mill might be on the side of town that currently doesn't have electricity. i am "certified" in winter survival techniques, so i guess if it comes down to it i could strangle a grad student and sleep inside of their body until the snow lets up.
today, i've been trying to put the finishing touches on these statements of goals for the newest round of graduate applications. pretty much what that means is i've been sitting around, playing guitar, blogging, and messing with my facebook profile. in my defense, i do have a writing sample pinned down now (and a pretty good one if i do say so myself), and i've also got just about everything else lined up with the exception of one university whose application process has been causing a few gray hairs (but it's about half my fault, so i have no right to complain). it's just daunting to think that i have something like 9 days to get everything arranged and mailed out before i fly out of here. i'd prolong it for longer (what else do you prolong it for?) but the truth is with portfolios to fly home and all the equipment i'm going to be trying to get home, i may just utterly fail at having room to transport anything but a few changes of clothes. that means applications are either done by the 12th of december or not done at all.
i prefer done by the 12th. but that brings me back to the statements of goals. i have many goals, and to talk about them within the confines of 2 pages and five different departments' detailed ideas of exactly what they want to know is a little daunting. this is always the hardest part of the process for me, and this time is no exception. nine days should be plenty of time, right?
on other fronts that have had a dearth of blog-related information lately, i'm still working (sort of) on the EP, though the new LP is totally not even under consideration at the moment. i came up with a few new riffs the other day and briefly considered putting some words down for them, but the truth is there's so much else going on right now musically and otherwise that i just didn't feel like branching out in another direction just yet. the amp problem turns out to be completely in my apartment wiring/interference from other apartment things, as i took it down to atom heart and the guy there plugged it in and played the most pristine, dirty-ass blues riff i've ever heard from a non-professional-band amplifier. i was stunned. let's just say that power of amplifierage i have in my possession was a) totally worth the 600 bucks b) will be absolutely nuclear if i ever live somewhere that i can play it clean. if. ever.
the good news (that was the bad news; my apartment sucks) is that i've found a way to at least semi-effectively record without much static from the amp, and i'll likely be using this recording method from here on out for the EP. it's obviously going to get done after christmas, but right now i'm looking at something like four weeks until the Susan's gig and i still don't even know all the songs i'm planning on playing. so, while learning 25 songs in the space of four weeks might be easy if that was all i was doing, it's not all i'm doing. and so i've pretty much (sadly) put new projects on hold until the show is over, or at least until i'm comfortable enough with these songs to not feel like i have to spend every second of guitar-time memorizing them. i'm planning on recording the show and uploading it somewhere, so here's hoping it doesn't totally suck.
well, i'm going to sit here in avery until either i finish a few of these goal-statements or until i run out of caffeine and resolve, or until the armor-clad, polar-bear riding Siberian warriors crash the front door and drive me out into the cold night on foot.
or until i remember there are tons of DVDs in my office, conveniently located next to my bookshelf...
Saturday, December 1, 2007
bowes finally shares the trophy!
well, my prediction came through. it was 50-20 with 2 minutes left, and the fuckers managed to get two touchdowns to make it 50-35, but who cares? we destroyed the dolphins in the super bowl. there were more interceptions, a punt return for touchdown by tasker, and touchdown passes to scholl, barber, and bunting. good times. and for once, someone else got to hold the trophy. 3 super bowls in 5 years...i think in a few months when i start another season i'm going to crank the difficulty level a little bit...
bowes runs it in early to make it 7-7:
minutes after recovering a fumble, sparks gets a pick:
and then, ironically, runs over fiedler on the return:
webster jumps in on the wrong-team-catches-the-ball action:
tasker gets a punt return for a 65-yard touchdown run:
bunting dives over his pursuit for a touchdown:
and sparks wrests the trophy away from bowes:
bowes runs it in early to make it 7-7:
minutes after recovering a fumble, sparks gets a pick:
and then, ironically, runs over fiedler on the return:
webster jumps in on the wrong-team-catches-the-ball action:
tasker gets a punt return for a 65-yard touchdown run:
bunting dives over his pursuit for a touchdown:
and sparks wrests the trophy away from bowes:
halftime report
the dolphins suck. this might end up biting me in the ass if we lose the game, but they suck. they've mustered 136 yards in the first half, but they've had one play for 76 yards and one play for 50 yards, so essentially they've had 10 yards the entire half. and 2 first downs. they have 10 points by virtue of the one 76 yard play (the second play of the game) going for a touchdown, and the 50 yard play (the second-to-last play of the half) going for a field goal.
however, thanks to jay fiedler going 3 for a bazillion and the dolphins receivers dropping 5 passes, as well as sparks getting an interception and a fumble recovery on back-to-back drives, we're winning 19-10. the only reason we're not absolutely slaughtering them is because their defense suddenly gets good in the red zone. we have one touchdown and four field goals. however, there's absolutely no good reason that it's not 35-10 right now.
i'm going to finish decimating the crap out of them, and then i'll be back with pictures.
however, thanks to jay fiedler going 3 for a bazillion and the dolphins receivers dropping 5 passes, as well as sparks getting an interception and a fumble recovery on back-to-back drives, we're winning 19-10. the only reason we're not absolutely slaughtering them is because their defense suddenly gets good in the red zone. we have one touchdown and four field goals. however, there's absolutely no good reason that it's not 35-10 right now.
i'm going to finish decimating the crap out of them, and then i'll be back with pictures.
impending fishy football doom!
once again, the niners are going to put up with the dolphins' pathetic attempts to keep them from becoming super bowl champions.
i don't have pictures or details because i played two of these games awhile back and then sort of went nuts for a few days, but the niners beat the panthers 31-24 in yet another dramatic comeback effort to advance to play the seahawks (who sadly beat the saints...i really wanted to play the saints because they're the only team in the league who had a better record than me). but the last time we played the seahawks it was 45-41, and this one was a shootout also, though we pretty effectively dominated 41-24. so, dolphins and niners in the super bowl, right now. results later.
also, i got tickets for the seattle and salem cardinals shows in january. well, at least i ordered them both...didn't get a confirmation for the salem one yet. i'm a little worried, but i'm gonna email them and i'm confident it'll work out. i hopped on the presale, so i got both nights inside the first 10 rows. i'm way over in the left corner for the salem show, but it's ryan's side of the stage so i'm not too heartbroken about that.
here's a picture of ryan from graboff.com in celebration:
i don't have pictures or details because i played two of these games awhile back and then sort of went nuts for a few days, but the niners beat the panthers 31-24 in yet another dramatic comeback effort to advance to play the seahawks (who sadly beat the saints...i really wanted to play the saints because they're the only team in the league who had a better record than me). but the last time we played the seahawks it was 45-41, and this one was a shootout also, though we pretty effectively dominated 41-24. so, dolphins and niners in the super bowl, right now. results later.
also, i got tickets for the seattle and salem cardinals shows in january. well, at least i ordered them both...didn't get a confirmation for the salem one yet. i'm a little worried, but i'm gonna email them and i'm confident it'll work out. i hopped on the presale, so i got both nights inside the first 10 rows. i'm way over in the left corner for the salem show, but it's ryan's side of the stage so i'm not too heartbroken about that.
here's a picture of ryan from graboff.com in celebration:
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