today...

...is the kind of day I wish I owned a motorcycle already.

Music - People Under the Stairs

anyways...

Got a little carried away there.

This Harrisonburg weekend was of course like many others. Show up, drunk, wake up, hung over, well in just enough time, drunk, hung over, home. I was happy though because I got to see a ton of people, and even a few that I haven't seen in a very long time. Not having my car, as I road with Nick and friends, was interesting though because I ended up having to venture on a few solo walks between places. It was strange because while mildly enjoying them, it felt weird that although I think Harrisonburg is great and all, I felt awkward and was keen on arriving at my destination as soon as possible. /shrug

I want to give my respect and thanks out to a friend, who is probably becoming a good friend now, for a pretty good talk one of the nights. I feel like I've been letting myself slip into a routine again and have forgotten to do my research on what's next. Being a few years senior than my friend, I was surprised at what seemed to be experience bred insight for the steps following college. As I've been shaped by college my experiences and work thus far, I was glad to get some advice from an unexpected source, that despite his age, may have been the best advice so far. Thank you.

Short music update: We finally got Noah out to practice and he penned some lyrics for a song and gave us the first preview. I think it's safe to say that all of us in the band are excited about what we heard and I personally look forward to writing with this guy. Hopefully show information in the near future!

Workout: 20 min run this morning
Music: None

i'm craving you

You are change. You've never stopped moving, turning, twisting, morphing, swinging, scratching, hoping, singing, pushing, lifting, shining, scaring, crushing, hitting, slowing, stopping. You are everything that can be feared and everything that can be hoped for. Taking a chance with you is like standing at the edge of the cliff jump. I'm scared like hell but know that when I'm falling through the air, it will be a new and empowering feeling. I'll be happy, excited, joyous, still a little bit scared, the adrenaline flowing. I'm still scared because who knows what will happen if I hit the water wrong...

scars, bars and bad news

I'm about 15 days out from traveling to Paris and it could not come any sooner. The anticipation is killing me. Mostly because I forget I'm going sometimes, then I realize I am going and I have nothing ready! Luckily this weekend I'll be able to get work done on squaring away couch spots in the city.

Firstly, bad news. It seems like every corporate company in the world has been having trouble during these "self-inflicted" rough times. I don't know if I'm surprised or if I expected it somewhere down the road, but HP has taken action by reducing base pay. I think I'm happier seeing this happen rather than seeing 20000 jobs getting cut. The latter seems like a worse decision as that way, the number of consumers able to provide money to the economy will be reduced. Regardless, it sucks. But like I said, I'm not the only one. It's just....strange to be in this position, at the will of something totally out of my control.

Otherwise, not much has changed. I finally got to framing my diploma after having the frame since November. It only took about 10 minutes. I hate realizing sometimes I'm just sitting around with my thumb up my ass. Of course, it will probably sit on the floor in my room for a good month before I actually hang it up. In addition to this accomplishment, I've gotten addicted to playing pool, spending two nights this week alone playing with T and Nick and constantly playing a MiniClip internet game while at work. Woops!

My update on the music front is good. Noah will finally be joining us this weekend, adding vocals and hopefully some songs of his own. I think this will provide us with a huge motivation to get out and play some gigs. It also helps we've got a tentative gig lined up in Blacksburg for April. Just gotta keep the hopes up high and everyone will be seeing us soon! I'll keep everyone updated.

Expect a thoughtful post soon, kind of like the first ones I pushed when I started posting here again.

Music - None
Workout - Ran the past 2 days, will be running tonight

21 days till the coal runs out

I had an interesting week this strangely warm week. As noticed by this weeks previous post, things definitely started out slow. Monotony is a killer, and I'm trying my best not to die. Warm weather was welcomed with open arms, even if I did have to sit inside all day. Invigorating in its own sense, just having the windows open at the apartment was refreshing.

Since Monday, things have turned around though. The prospect of a three day weekend ahead is exciting, even though I've got nothing planned and I have a strange feeling that I don't really want to plan anything. Big Hallmark holiday tomorrow, might be fun to see a horror film. I'll leave the weekend up to my whims.

Speaking of whims, I was talked into buying a round trip plane ticket to Paris in 21 days! Egad!!! I got the email back from the IRS that my tax return had been accepted so I figure it's almost like a free ticket. I'll be going with Matt Abraham (DJ Fey) to partake in any debauchery that may come our way. We'll also be couch surfing (www.couchsurfing.com) while there to meet people and save a few bones. This will be a pushing the envelope type experience, so I'm sure I'll have some interesting things to post about after the trip.

I'm pretty happy about my decision to do this. I'll be the first to admit that it may not be the best decision financially but I hope in the weeks leading up to the trip I'll learn some sort of fiscal responsibility as I balance saving up and paying for hospital bills. I definitely needed something to make this spring more exciting. I've been getting really antsy and think this will be a good opportunity to forget about everything for a week.

Heavy research for future plans to ensue before the trip though. These nursing schools in the UK are slow to respond to email. Do I really have to call them at some god awful hour in the middle of the night? I don't even know how to dial to the UK!!

Workout: None (running this afternoon)
Music: Weezer - Say It Ain't So

stormy monday blues

I tell you what. Monday morning at 9am is a tough time. Just staggering into work, lighting up my desk and computer again for the day. Sometimes it's surreal, sitting there watching my computer boot up, wondering if my inbox will have a casual day opportunity waiting for me. I'm already thinking about being at home after work, wondering if there will be anything fun or entertaining to do this weekend. I'm trying to balance the idea of getting over this inane cough/cold with going out to a pool hall or the usual Wednesday dollar beer night for live music.

I found a new blog this morning.

http://jenandtheartofmotorcyclemaintenance.blogspot.com/

I'm going to be following this for a while. I'm not sure how often updates arrive since it's a traveling blog but I'm looking forward to the interest it will generate in me for motorcycles and road trips. Already have one potential weekend warrior trip to Miami. Why not? I still want to make the motorcycle road trip to Missouri and Kansas a reality with Troll. I've got my fingers crossed for this summer.


I wanted to start a new thing at the end of my posts. I wanted to add any sort of workouts I've done the day of a post (if I've worked out) and what song was on at the end (if I was listening to music). This is sort of for my personal use as far the workout thing goes. Music I thought might just be interesting. So....

Workout: None
Music: Darkest Hour - With a Thousand Words to Say But One

doom is in the air...

Last night was a blast. Nick and I went to the Peppermint Beach Club to catch the last two acts of what sounded like an entirely heavy/black metal bill. Rose Funeral and Abigail Williams were on deck when we arrived to the last band just finishing up what sounded like shred heaven.

Rose Funeral wasn't quite my cup of tea, but I must commend the vocalist on his screaming abilities. He had a great high pitch scream and a pretty badass stage presence. I feel bad that it was a lame crowd, and I myself was forced to be part of it (can't be injuring my shoulder getting pushed around, what would I tell my parents? "I was head banging to a band I didn't know and..Woops! The metal rod was sticking out the back of my shoulder!"). But hey, felt good to be at a show.

Abigail Williams headlined and closed out the show. I didn't see the bands before but I'm guessing they blew the rest of the bill out of the water. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have a keyboardist on stage as they played record tracks over the PA of any key/string parts. I believe they had one who left. Not sure what the whole story is though. Beyond that, those guys are fucking awesome. Great stage presence and badass music. Once again, so happy to be at a show and especially so because I knew the music.

Ken Sorceron of Abigail Williams (phone pic)

This really gets me excited to get back to writing music again. It is honestly frustrating sometimes and there are times where I wonder why I do it/try. It would be a waste of time not to do something with what I have though. Also, First Night Last Night is one step closer to completing it's line up. We've got a good friend coming in to check out our stuff and possibly take the vocal spot. Got my fingers crossed on this working. Can't wait to give everyone a show again.