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.

wanted: change

Last night ended up being a movie night. Well. This isn't entirely true. I also took part in drinking a handful of Rolling Rock beers (in the can!!) for a dollar a piece. I would say that this Baja something or rather could be put into the "dive bar" category, mostly due to the bathroom cleanliness, or lack thereof. It's also definitely a local watering hole, the stank of Virginia Beach grom and lifers hung in the air. I'll have to remember my quarters next time so I can get trumped on the pool table.

On the way home, JC was kind enough to forward me a text message including a coupon code with which I redeemed a free rental of Wanted starring super star Angelina Jolie. I returned home to find a new home studio set up on my roommates computer. After I had investigated for a short time, I directed myself towards my room with the PS2 and enjoyed a good ginger ale while watching the film.

I was thoroughly entertained with this "all star" type cast despite my recent preoccupation with instant Netflix watches of TV series and independent films. The action scenes were ridiculous and unrealistic (what can you expect when these assassins have hearts racing at 400bpm?), but awesome. Of course, the "nude" shot of Ms. Jolie's back is everything I could have dreamed it to be. Her tattoos are quite fascinating and from what I could see, very well done.

So the point of this post is not to provide a spoiler or a synopsis (I don't think it is anyway), but to consider the coincidence I felt at the end of the film. The protagonist works a basically dead end job (for someone who desires more), getting chewed out by his boss everyday and wasting away in a cubicle while his best friend partakes in sexual intercourse with his girlfriend while at "dentist appointments". Essentially, this guy is a pawn to others and does nothing about it. Along comes hot, kick your ass babe Angelina who brings him into another world of danger and "super powers", at which point said guy is in control.

False. Pawn. Again. A twist in the story I won't reveal in all it's entirety.*

Not until the final, let's say 3 minutes of the movie, does our protagonist gain control of himself and his life. In a monologue just before the credits, he let's us know that yes indeed, he's in control, yadda yadda about I went from being a pussy, never standing up for myself to shooting people from a mile away and saying "fuck you" to my boss. Final quote: "What the fuck have you done lately?"

Well. What have I done? I am sort of that guy sitting in his cubicle, waiting for 5pm everyday just so I can leave. The best part? At the end of the day, it just starts all over again. When I heard that last line, I was just glad that I had woken up before work yesterday and worked out, albeit for a short 18 minute bike ride. Still better than nothing. I also felt better that even though it was 1:30am and I was still up drinking soda, watching a movie, that I was going to wake up at 7am and work out again. Which I did.

It's been 8 months since I decided I was going to exercise regularly and get back into some semblance of my later high school and early college self. That's a long time to not have gotten anywhere, and frankly, there's no excuse. So here I go. See you on the bike at 7am.


*If this does somehow ruin the movie for you, contact me via email or comment, I'll provide my address so you can send me the receipt from renting the movie after which you were disappointed that I ruined it, and I will reimburse you for the entire renting cost.