Five Things I want to Do Differently in 2007
1. Eat more fruit. I'm actually not bad with the vegetables, but fruit, hardly ever. Not sure why. I like fruit. It's all about habits, I guess.
2. Meditate more often. This is my resolution, and I'm not a resolution kind of guy. I suppose I will have to wait until later in the day to start, as I'm planning on being hungover.
3. I want to avoid perceiving most scenarios from the "what needs to be fixed?" perspective. I'm afraid this fits into the "create drama" pattern so prevalent in my family history.
4. Let things go. This is esp. important at work in light of an upcoming transitional period.
5. Take my kids out more, just the boys and me, whether we visit the gym after school, the bookstore, maybe even a restaurant.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Another pretty lazy day, although I was spurred into activity off and on through the afternoon. I woke after seven, and I can’t say I did much besides clean, Wii-bowl, and hang out with the boys through most of the morning. M and the boy had visitors starting at about eleven, so I cleaned, made lunch, and ate lunch around the kids and the moms’ conversations. After a while I grew bored and restless. M mentioned we needed beer for tomorrow night’s party, so I drove a town over, to a decent liquor store, and picked up a 20 pack of Bud Light (Jim, a neighbor, only drinks A-B products), a twelve pack of Corona Light, and a twelve pack of Hein. Light. When you combine those with another twelve pack, assuming my math is correct, we have 56 beers. Well, fifty-five, I drank one tonight. I think we could use one more case. As M says, the beer doesn’t spoil. Actually, I think beer does spoil, but I can’t tell the difference, so no loss. Anyway, we’re still not sure how many people will attend. I’m more stressed over the numbers than M, though, so whatever happens, happens. After the liquor store I picked up a cheap 8 X 10 frame for a ZRD playlist that usually hangs in the bathroom, but the last frame somehow fell off the wall and broke. I was wired and bitchy by the time I arrived home, so after some television I drove to the gym and rode thirty minutes on the bike. Whoo, did a workout feel good. I had been eating like shit (discovered a stash of Christmas candy and ate more or less half the bag for lunch), and although I probably didn’t lose much on the bike, I felt a ton better for the effort. After a quick shower I ate dinner (M’s quesadillas) and watched some of The Black Dahlia. T and I chatted for a while on the couch before we went upstairs. I read N a few books before he fell asleep. The other two were wired, and I felt badly for sending them upstairs (T constantly, constantly wants to hang out…I’m so torn on encouraging him to be alone sometimes and taking advantage of an attitude I know won’t last forever), but they fell asleep without incident. I finished The Black Dahlia. I’m a huge Ellroy fan, and I thought the film did his work justice at least as much as L.A. Confidential. I don’t think this film made much money. Hilary Swank was esp. strong, I thought, although she could have lost the weird accent and done just as well. After the movie I caught some of the Bucks game (another win). I’ll go upstairs with some Ellroy before bed. Tomorrow is a cleaning day, maybe a workout and a bath before the party starts. I think rain is in the forecast. I don’t mind. I’m up for it. I’ve enjoyed this break. Good night.
Friday, December 29, 2006
I did not accomplish much of anything today. Is sloth expected on vacations? I usually work well when I get so bored I’m spurred towards productivity. We’ll see.
I was up late last night, past eleven, watching Jackass Two. The movie only left me nauseous twice, a marked improvement from the first film in the series. I understand a deluxe boxed set is out. Who the hell would buy the Jackass Collection? Anyway, a couple of the actors were clearly playing up the injuries, but I don’t want to sound bitchy, as I more or less enjoyed the film. At least one can say there is nothing on the market like it.
This morning I woke, from a sense of pick-up hoops duty, at 5:30AM. I hit the gym by 6:00AM. Eight guys showed, enough to play, and we had a few decent games before Todd turned his ankle. I was in no hurry to reach home, I guess, so John, Todd and I sat and talked while waiting for the ice to heal, partially, Todd’s ankle. On the way home I picked up the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal. T was set to visit Discovery World with a friend, so we Wii-bowled for a while before he left. M took S to another friend’s house, then took N out on errands, so I had the house to myself. I watched a bit more of Jackass Two and researched the satellite radio vs. Ipod question on my computer. Later N and I watched “Go, Diego, Go!” while M did PTA crap. I hit the library for The Spirit comic analogy and the film Over the Hedge. I have no idea why the library is closed tomorrow, but I love the library so much I will let the closing slide. My blood pressure drops significantly when I walk in the local library. Seriously. Since T was still gone, and M was taking the other boys for a last minute library run, I drove down to work. I fed Striped Scorched (our office fish) and further researched the Satellite Radio vs. Ipod question, printed out a few coupons, and hit Best Buy. The visit was fruitless. I discovered the Ipod I desired (the $250 one) was out of stock, and the “home kit” connectors for the satellite radio wouldn’t fit any of my rigs. I resisted the urge to blow my gift certificate on something I didn’t really want and drove home. After beans (again, my choice) for dinner, I watched some Scrubs. T arrived home a bit later. I’m not used to him being gone all day, but I trust his behavior and the like. He’s a good kid. I suppose I need to get used to him leaving for the day occasionally. He’s growing up. T, S and I Wii-bowled a bit more. I created a character that looks like M and named her “hottie”. Ha. Might stay up late tonight and watch “Black Dahlia”.
Ten Bullet Post, here we go!
1) I don’t understand Ipods just yet. Ok, I get the whole “have your entire music catalog on a tiny device” thing, but you know, my CD case, which holds forty or so CDs, isn’t that heavy. Do I really need my entire music collection with me at all times? I don’t think so. Plus, would I be able to burn copies of what I bought online, through Itunes or whatever, and send copies to Dan? And what about all this extra crap I would need to buy, like a carrying case or whatever? I’m not yet sold on Ipods.
2) I’m still tossing around the idea of picking up satellite radio, but I’m disappointed that no device I own appears to sync with the receiver. I suppose I could buy a boom box specifically for satellite radio , but, well, I don’t know.
3) I feel like I should start doing yoga again. I’m not sure why.
4) Another Ipod concern…people say, “well, you can listen to an Ipod while you’re walking through the woods.” I don’t want to listen to an Ipod while walking through the woods. I want to hear the wind blow through the trees. Do they sell the wind through the trees sounds on Itunes?
5) I cannot put off cutting my hair much longer.
6) Golden Grahams cereal is very, very good.
7) My day does not feel complete if I don’t read in the bathtub.
8) I should get new plants for the office. Some of my older plants are showing their age.
9) Tomorrow the boys have visitors again. I’m not sure where I’ll go or what I’ll do while the visitors are here. Stupid library. Why aren’t you open? Maybe the library a town over is open. I’ll read some Aristotle. I suppose I could hit a coffee shop.
10) I’ve been drinking too much diet soda (coke or root beer) lately.
I was up late last night, past eleven, watching Jackass Two. The movie only left me nauseous twice, a marked improvement from the first film in the series. I understand a deluxe boxed set is out. Who the hell would buy the Jackass Collection? Anyway, a couple of the actors were clearly playing up the injuries, but I don’t want to sound bitchy, as I more or less enjoyed the film. At least one can say there is nothing on the market like it.
This morning I woke, from a sense of pick-up hoops duty, at 5:30AM. I hit the gym by 6:00AM. Eight guys showed, enough to play, and we had a few decent games before Todd turned his ankle. I was in no hurry to reach home, I guess, so John, Todd and I sat and talked while waiting for the ice to heal, partially, Todd’s ankle. On the way home I picked up the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal. T was set to visit Discovery World with a friend, so we Wii-bowled for a while before he left. M took S to another friend’s house, then took N out on errands, so I had the house to myself. I watched a bit more of Jackass Two and researched the satellite radio vs. Ipod question on my computer. Later N and I watched “Go, Diego, Go!” while M did PTA crap. I hit the library for The Spirit comic analogy and the film Over the Hedge. I have no idea why the library is closed tomorrow, but I love the library so much I will let the closing slide. My blood pressure drops significantly when I walk in the local library. Seriously. Since T was still gone, and M was taking the other boys for a last minute library run, I drove down to work. I fed Striped Scorched (our office fish) and further researched the Satellite Radio vs. Ipod question, printed out a few coupons, and hit Best Buy. The visit was fruitless. I discovered the Ipod I desired (the $250 one) was out of stock, and the “home kit” connectors for the satellite radio wouldn’t fit any of my rigs. I resisted the urge to blow my gift certificate on something I didn’t really want and drove home. After beans (again, my choice) for dinner, I watched some Scrubs. T arrived home a bit later. I’m not used to him being gone all day, but I trust his behavior and the like. He’s a good kid. I suppose I need to get used to him leaving for the day occasionally. He’s growing up. T, S and I Wii-bowled a bit more. I created a character that looks like M and named her “hottie”. Ha. Might stay up late tonight and watch “Black Dahlia”.
Ten Bullet Post, here we go!
1) I don’t understand Ipods just yet. Ok, I get the whole “have your entire music catalog on a tiny device” thing, but you know, my CD case, which holds forty or so CDs, isn’t that heavy. Do I really need my entire music collection with me at all times? I don’t think so. Plus, would I be able to burn copies of what I bought online, through Itunes or whatever, and send copies to Dan? And what about all this extra crap I would need to buy, like a carrying case or whatever? I’m not yet sold on Ipods.
2) I’m still tossing around the idea of picking up satellite radio, but I’m disappointed that no device I own appears to sync with the receiver. I suppose I could buy a boom box specifically for satellite radio , but, well, I don’t know.
3) I feel like I should start doing yoga again. I’m not sure why.
4) Another Ipod concern…people say, “well, you can listen to an Ipod while you’re walking through the woods.” I don’t want to listen to an Ipod while walking through the woods. I want to hear the wind blow through the trees. Do they sell the wind through the trees sounds on Itunes?
5) I cannot put off cutting my hair much longer.
6) Golden Grahams cereal is very, very good.
7) My day does not feel complete if I don’t read in the bathtub.
8) I should get new plants for the office. Some of my older plants are showing their age.
9) Tomorrow the boys have visitors again. I’m not sure where I’ll go or what I’ll do while the visitors are here. Stupid library. Why aren’t you open? Maybe the library a town over is open. I’ll read some Aristotle. I suppose I could hit a coffee shop.
10) I’ve been drinking too much diet soda (coke or root beer) lately.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Christmas, Etc.
Ok, I haven’t written about Christmas yet, and I should probably get some words down before Christmas seems way in the past, although I already feel a bit weird talking about Christmas, and today’s the 28th. Here we go:
Christmas Eve
The boys performed at the UU Christmas pageant in the morning. T was a reader, S was a donkey, and N was a shepherd. They did well, and I thought the program was organized better than in the past. The kids moved in and out of the sanctuary smoothly, and the entire event took less than forty minutes. I suppose S and N had to sit too long on the floor in the front, but hey, they survived, so I don’t want to quibble. My service ADD was in full force. I watched some of the program from the back of the sanctuary. I saw more from the hallway outside the cry room. I saw a bit more from the lobby. F—k it, I can’t stay still. I stuck around for twenty minutes or so of the “post service cookie” thing, until I literally couldn’t stand the experience any further. I drove home and sat on the couch for what I hoped was a football afternoon.
So much for my hopes. M had told the boys they could open one present before Christmas, and the kids aimed for the largest boxes they could find. The first box was a huge Star Wars lego set. The second set was another huge Star Wars lego set. When I say “huge”, I’m talking three hundred pieces each, conservatively, and four hours of assembly for a structural engineer. What the f—k? I found out M’s brother sent the presents. I hit the roof. What the hell was he thinking? He’s got kids. He should know better. Turns out M RECOMMENDED these presents. I was pissed. I put together about the first hour’s worth of a Death Star, then turned the rest over to M. I finally had to leave because M was getting bitchy about the whole thing, even bitchier than myself, and I was ready to blow. A quick drive around town calmed me down.
Christmas Eve was ok. We tried to order pizza but every pizza place in the phone book was closed. Strange. I thought Christmas Eve was a traditional pizza night. We settled for high-end frozen pizza. I helped the kids get to sleep, read some Elroy, and fell asleep.
Christmas
The boys were up early, but not too horribly early, now that I think about it. We did the whole presents thing right after breakfast. M did a good job with the shopping…I didn’t help much this year. At least one gift is a hit that I don’t expect to be a hit every year. This Christmas a small stuffed tiger N deemed “Jackie” became the toy of choice. N hardly leaves a room without Jackie. The Wii, of course, was the present du jour. I set up the system in the spare bedroom and let the boys do their thing.
Christmas afternoon is always a bit weird. I didn’t have much to do, as my presents were practical (e.g. this weird anti-sinus mask thing M got me) or gift cards. I watched some television and cleaned the kitchen. Then I made dinner, pasta rolls and acorn squash with blueberries (same as Thanksgiving, more or less). Later on I watched “Little Miss Sunshine” with M and her mom. Man, that movie was fantastic. I was slightly drunk, so perhaps my radar was off, but I don’t think so. I want a poster of the film for my office.
Here's a pic of the boys in front of the tree, just before they opened their presents:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i196/randomanthony/december032.jpg
Day After Christmas
These days start to bleed together. I played hoops in the morning. M had to drop off her Mom at the airport. They hit the mall early for exchanges and lunch. The boys played with their toys while I did some laundry and tried to clean the house. Too many toys were around to make much headway. After M returned I…I…I…don’t remember what I did. Oh, I watched “My Superhero Ex-Girlfriend”. The film was surprisingly ok. Perhaps my taste has diminished, and I’ll laugh at anything. I don’t know. Later I hit Blockbuster (crowded), returned the films, and picked up three more (The Last Kiss, Black Dahlia, Jackass Two). I cruised the computer, trying to decide between an Ipod and Satellite Radio (I snagged a 100 buck gift certificate to Best Buy from M’s mom) and played Wii with the kids. Here’s a picture of us all playing Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam. Oh, M also barely…BARELY…beat me at Wii boxing. Let us never speak of that event again.
Here's a pic of the boys and myself playing the Tony Hawk Skateboarding game. You can barely see me...I'm wearing the green shirt on the left:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i196/randomanthony/december103.jpg
Dec. 27th
I drove into work after basketball and spent about four hours cleaning, answering emails, and working through a week’s worth of mail. The routine correspondence didn’t present much of a problem, although my brain was somewhat fried by the time I left for home. I also watered the plants and fed the office fish. Oh, I stopped at Borders for new calendars (Japanese Art-Office, Dragonology-Home) and picked up another copy of Aristotle’s Ethics. I had lent the last copy to a student who passed away not long ago.
The rest of the day was painless. The boys and I watched tv and played Wii (getting better at Bowling). Dan and I talked on the phone for a while. I think he’s at PBK’s mom’s funeral today. I fell asleep on the couch before eight. Not sure from where the fatigue emerged, but man, I was hit hard. I didn’t wake this morning until after seven…slept for close to twelve hours, missed Thursday morning basketball.
Today
I had planned on working on observation transcripts this morning at the library, but I felt guilty that M and the boys were on their own, so I suggested we go up to Green Bay to check out the Packers crap. We decided on the Domes instead. I’m glad we made the change, as the Domes are way closer (about sixty minutes closer, at least), and I wasn’t in the mood for a long drive. We arrived at the Domes by 10:30. Now, as far as tourist attractions go, the Domes are pretty lame. The Domes consist of three large glass, well, domes. Any male over the age of three wouldn’t be able to help seeing them as breasts. Let’s get that out of the way right at the start. Anyway, one dome is an arid habitat, one dome is a rain forest habitat, and the third is, well, I’m not sure, but the third dome contained a lot of poinsettias and Christmas decorations, so maybe the third dome rotates. I’m a plant guy, so I found most of the foliage interesting, but my kids grew bored pretty quickly. We didn’t spend more than thirty minutes between the three spaces. I guess the boys liked looking for stray birds and reading about some of the weird plants, but I can’t blame the boys for their natural attention span. We got the Domes out of their system, anyway, and they had been asking to visit the site for a while. I’m not sure why they were asking for a Domes visit, by the way...a mention at school may have piqued their interest. All three kids had seen the Domes at least twice, I think, but they had forgotten the experiences. That’s ok. The Domes aren’t exactly memorable.
I ate vegetables and chili beans for lunch (as I did yesterday) then Wii bowled against T for a while. M and I watched a couple of “My Boys” episodes. I decided to cook something new, so I went through the cookbooks and hit the supermarket. The checker accidentally beaned a mildly developmentally disabled bagger (slowest in the store, in case you were wondering) with a case of diet root beer. I’m not sure how that happened…I think she was leaning over to put the case under the cart just as the bagger leaned down for another paper bag. I know this will sound horrible, but I almost peed my pants trying not to laugh. Anyway, the case burst open. I told the checker not to worry about getting another one, but she insisted. The neighbor girls were over by the time I arrived home. We settled on Boboli pizza for dinner. I f—ked it up somehow. I think I didn’t cook the pizza long enough…the crust came out tough and chewy. S—t. Later S and I played “War” (he called the game “Kings” for some reason) with an oversized deck of cars he received from the neighbors for Christmas. Later T and I watched some “Scrubs”. I just checked on the boys, and all three are either asleep or near sleep. Good night.
Ok, I haven’t written about Christmas yet, and I should probably get some words down before Christmas seems way in the past, although I already feel a bit weird talking about Christmas, and today’s the 28th. Here we go:
Christmas Eve
The boys performed at the UU Christmas pageant in the morning. T was a reader, S was a donkey, and N was a shepherd. They did well, and I thought the program was organized better than in the past. The kids moved in and out of the sanctuary smoothly, and the entire event took less than forty minutes. I suppose S and N had to sit too long on the floor in the front, but hey, they survived, so I don’t want to quibble. My service ADD was in full force. I watched some of the program from the back of the sanctuary. I saw more from the hallway outside the cry room. I saw a bit more from the lobby. F—k it, I can’t stay still. I stuck around for twenty minutes or so of the “post service cookie” thing, until I literally couldn’t stand the experience any further. I drove home and sat on the couch for what I hoped was a football afternoon.
So much for my hopes. M had told the boys they could open one present before Christmas, and the kids aimed for the largest boxes they could find. The first box was a huge Star Wars lego set. The second set was another huge Star Wars lego set. When I say “huge”, I’m talking three hundred pieces each, conservatively, and four hours of assembly for a structural engineer. What the f—k? I found out M’s brother sent the presents. I hit the roof. What the hell was he thinking? He’s got kids. He should know better. Turns out M RECOMMENDED these presents. I was pissed. I put together about the first hour’s worth of a Death Star, then turned the rest over to M. I finally had to leave because M was getting bitchy about the whole thing, even bitchier than myself, and I was ready to blow. A quick drive around town calmed me down.
Christmas Eve was ok. We tried to order pizza but every pizza place in the phone book was closed. Strange. I thought Christmas Eve was a traditional pizza night. We settled for high-end frozen pizza. I helped the kids get to sleep, read some Elroy, and fell asleep.
Christmas
The boys were up early, but not too horribly early, now that I think about it. We did the whole presents thing right after breakfast. M did a good job with the shopping…I didn’t help much this year. At least one gift is a hit that I don’t expect to be a hit every year. This Christmas a small stuffed tiger N deemed “Jackie” became the toy of choice. N hardly leaves a room without Jackie. The Wii, of course, was the present du jour. I set up the system in the spare bedroom and let the boys do their thing.
Christmas afternoon is always a bit weird. I didn’t have much to do, as my presents were practical (e.g. this weird anti-sinus mask thing M got me) or gift cards. I watched some television and cleaned the kitchen. Then I made dinner, pasta rolls and acorn squash with blueberries (same as Thanksgiving, more or less). Later on I watched “Little Miss Sunshine” with M and her mom. Man, that movie was fantastic. I was slightly drunk, so perhaps my radar was off, but I don’t think so. I want a poster of the film for my office.
Here's a pic of the boys in front of the tree, just before they opened their presents:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i196/randomanthony/december032.jpg
Day After Christmas
These days start to bleed together. I played hoops in the morning. M had to drop off her Mom at the airport. They hit the mall early for exchanges and lunch. The boys played with their toys while I did some laundry and tried to clean the house. Too many toys were around to make much headway. After M returned I…I…I…don’t remember what I did. Oh, I watched “My Superhero Ex-Girlfriend”. The film was surprisingly ok. Perhaps my taste has diminished, and I’ll laugh at anything. I don’t know. Later I hit Blockbuster (crowded), returned the films, and picked up three more (The Last Kiss, Black Dahlia, Jackass Two). I cruised the computer, trying to decide between an Ipod and Satellite Radio (I snagged a 100 buck gift certificate to Best Buy from M’s mom) and played Wii with the kids. Here’s a picture of us all playing Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam. Oh, M also barely…BARELY…beat me at Wii boxing. Let us never speak of that event again.
Here's a pic of the boys and myself playing the Tony Hawk Skateboarding game. You can barely see me...I'm wearing the green shirt on the left:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i196/randomanthony/december103.jpg
Dec. 27th
I drove into work after basketball and spent about four hours cleaning, answering emails, and working through a week’s worth of mail. The routine correspondence didn’t present much of a problem, although my brain was somewhat fried by the time I left for home. I also watered the plants and fed the office fish. Oh, I stopped at Borders for new calendars (Japanese Art-Office, Dragonology-Home) and picked up another copy of Aristotle’s Ethics. I had lent the last copy to a student who passed away not long ago.
The rest of the day was painless. The boys and I watched tv and played Wii (getting better at Bowling). Dan and I talked on the phone for a while. I think he’s at PBK’s mom’s funeral today. I fell asleep on the couch before eight. Not sure from where the fatigue emerged, but man, I was hit hard. I didn’t wake this morning until after seven…slept for close to twelve hours, missed Thursday morning basketball.
Today
I had planned on working on observation transcripts this morning at the library, but I felt guilty that M and the boys were on their own, so I suggested we go up to Green Bay to check out the Packers crap. We decided on the Domes instead. I’m glad we made the change, as the Domes are way closer (about sixty minutes closer, at least), and I wasn’t in the mood for a long drive. We arrived at the Domes by 10:30. Now, as far as tourist attractions go, the Domes are pretty lame. The Domes consist of three large glass, well, domes. Any male over the age of three wouldn’t be able to help seeing them as breasts. Let’s get that out of the way right at the start. Anyway, one dome is an arid habitat, one dome is a rain forest habitat, and the third is, well, I’m not sure, but the third dome contained a lot of poinsettias and Christmas decorations, so maybe the third dome rotates. I’m a plant guy, so I found most of the foliage interesting, but my kids grew bored pretty quickly. We didn’t spend more than thirty minutes between the three spaces. I guess the boys liked looking for stray birds and reading about some of the weird plants, but I can’t blame the boys for their natural attention span. We got the Domes out of their system, anyway, and they had been asking to visit the site for a while. I’m not sure why they were asking for a Domes visit, by the way...a mention at school may have piqued their interest. All three kids had seen the Domes at least twice, I think, but they had forgotten the experiences. That’s ok. The Domes aren’t exactly memorable.
I ate vegetables and chili beans for lunch (as I did yesterday) then Wii bowled against T for a while. M and I watched a couple of “My Boys” episodes. I decided to cook something new, so I went through the cookbooks and hit the supermarket. The checker accidentally beaned a mildly developmentally disabled bagger (slowest in the store, in case you were wondering) with a case of diet root beer. I’m not sure how that happened…I think she was leaning over to put the case under the cart just as the bagger leaned down for another paper bag. I know this will sound horrible, but I almost peed my pants trying not to laugh. Anyway, the case burst open. I told the checker not to worry about getting another one, but she insisted. The neighbor girls were over by the time I arrived home. We settled on Boboli pizza for dinner. I f—ked it up somehow. I think I didn’t cook the pizza long enough…the crust came out tough and chewy. S—t. Later S and I played “War” (he called the game “Kings” for some reason) with an oversized deck of cars he received from the neighbors for Christmas. Later T and I watched some “Scrubs”. I just checked on the boys, and all three are either asleep or near sleep. Good night.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Ten Things That Were New To Me In 2006
1. I find myself sleeping with two pillows instead of one. I'm not exactly sure why, but I can hardly sleep without two pillows anymore.
2. My friend Mary recommended Melatonin for insomnia, and I discovered the deep, dreamless melatonin sleep.
3. I've discovered that if I don't shave I have grey in my beard. I quite like the grey.
4. I listened to Satellite Radio at my brother's house in the mountains. I'm considering getting a set-up with a Christmas gift certificate. I'm torn, though, between satellite radio and an Ipod, and I'm still resisting the idea that CDs are dead.
5. Whale watching, way back in January in San Diego. Quick tip for whale watchers....whales stay underwater as much as possible, especially when chased by a tour boat full of gawking tourists (including myself).
6. Borges. What a genius. "The Immortal" may be my favorite short story ever.
7. August....discovered long train rides on Amtrak were awful. I had taken the train to New Orleans about eighteen years ago, and over the eighteen years forgot how long train rides can be, with all the inexplicable, unscheduled stops and delays.
8. I saw and smelled my first hookah bar outside the Erie, PA train station late at night while waiting for the pit of a train station to open at midnight for a 1AM boarding (which took place at 4:20AM, by the way). That night was easily my most surreal of the year.
9. Alternating bike riding with running and basketball throughout the summer. My knees thanked me...this was perhaps my best decision all year.
10. Whoring myself out (uh, figuratively) to university donors. Apparently I'm quite good at it...or the U is just desperate for people to wear a suit and take potential donors (monetary, not sperm, by the way) out to fancy lunches.
More later!
1. I find myself sleeping with two pillows instead of one. I'm not exactly sure why, but I can hardly sleep without two pillows anymore.
2. My friend Mary recommended Melatonin for insomnia, and I discovered the deep, dreamless melatonin sleep.
3. I've discovered that if I don't shave I have grey in my beard. I quite like the grey.
4. I listened to Satellite Radio at my brother's house in the mountains. I'm considering getting a set-up with a Christmas gift certificate. I'm torn, though, between satellite radio and an Ipod, and I'm still resisting the idea that CDs are dead.
5. Whale watching, way back in January in San Diego. Quick tip for whale watchers....whales stay underwater as much as possible, especially when chased by a tour boat full of gawking tourists (including myself).
6. Borges. What a genius. "The Immortal" may be my favorite short story ever.
7. August....discovered long train rides on Amtrak were awful. I had taken the train to New Orleans about eighteen years ago, and over the eighteen years forgot how long train rides can be, with all the inexplicable, unscheduled stops and delays.
8. I saw and smelled my first hookah bar outside the Erie, PA train station late at night while waiting for the pit of a train station to open at midnight for a 1AM boarding (which took place at 4:20AM, by the way). That night was easily my most surreal of the year.
9. Alternating bike riding with running and basketball throughout the summer. My knees thanked me...this was perhaps my best decision all year.
10. Whoring myself out (uh, figuratively) to university donors. Apparently I'm quite good at it...or the U is just desperate for people to wear a suit and take potential donors (monetary, not sperm, by the way) out to fancy lunches.
More later!
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Ok, sorry for the posting delay, but I was out of town most of the week. Here’s the update, starting with last Monday.
Monday
I called my brother to find out what kind of guitar to get T for Christmas, and I found out that his girlfriend would be out of town most of the week. As we talked about guitar nuances he said, “this would be easier to show you” and, in a moment of inspiration, I talked about flying out to see him. M and I talked. She was ok with my flying out, in part, I think, because she wants to fly to NY to hang out with her mom and brothers later in the winter, and allowing me to fly out to Denver makes for good family public relations, if you know what I mean. I got online and reserved hotel rooms in Lincoln, Nebraska, for the drive out and back, then, on a lark, checked the airfares. I found a flight and car for a total of $400 bucks. Assuming I filled the gas tank eight times, at 25 bucks each, plus added 130 bucks on hotels for the way out and back, I’d be at $330. I decided to eat the seventy extra bucks and take the flight.
Tuesday
M dropped me off at the airport in the morning, and I hit the Memphis airport for a quick layover, Mystery Train style, before an early afternoon arrival in Denver. I picked the rental car from one of those way in the middle of nowhere rental car lots after a long wait for a shuttle. I decided that rental car clerk ranks high on my “jobs I never want to do” list. You have to work in these stunningly dull non-descript buildings, way out away from everything, all the while trying to convince people to buy extra insurance or upgrade to a Cadillac or something. A kid with dreadlocks and an island accent gave me my keys, and I was on my way. I followed a tollway sign towards Boulder, which led to another tollway, which led to another tollway. Six bucks later I was on the last road to Boulder. I was pissed at the toll people…false advertising, if you ask me.
Now, I haven’t been to Boulder in close to fifteen years, so I probably shouldn’t have been surprised, but I couldn’t believe the entire city had essentially become a large mall, not the Neiman-Marcus kind, but the Whole Food and Barnes and Noble kind. I hooked up with my brother in front of some coffee shop. He and I snagged a burrito, then I followed up the mountain, a thirty minute drive, and parked in the driveway next to his house. He had an open stage to host, but I was kind of tired, so I begged off and stayed home.
My brother’s rented house is crazy. The house is an A-frame, with a sleeping loft at the apex of the letter and a basement/secondary living space at the base. The main living space is between the two. You have to climb a ladder to reach the loft. A hole in the floor and additional ladder leads to the basement. The water, according to my brother, is not safe for drinking; he also has no television or microwave oven. The bathroom is pretty scummy, too. The house runs primarily on solar power and smells strongly of bad incense. Why can’t my brother ever live anywhere normal? I read Jon Savage’s incredibly detailed book on the Sex Pistols for a while, listened to Chopin, and fell asleep.
Wednesday
Snow was falling when we woke. Snow was falling later. Snow kept falling all day. We took my brother’s car into the city to shop for Christmas presents. We ate breakfast at some place called Dot’s Diner, a hot, stuffy place in a strip mall with servicable vegetarian burritos. By the time we reached Boulder the city had more or less shut down. We hit Circuit city for a home XM radio hook up, then Whole Food for water and hippy food. My brother was getting nervous about the weather, so we headed back up the mountain early. I got carsick from playing with his car satellite radio through the mountain curves. We spent the rest of the night listening to the radio, reading, and watching the snow fall. My brother assured me his landlord would plow out the rental car, now a vague outline in the snow, by morning.
Thursday
Thirty inches of snow had fallen by Thursday morning. I listened to a fascinating interview with a priest from Homeboy Industries on my brother’s satellite radio. If I drove a lot I could rationalize getting a satellite radio system myself. I’m tempted. We drove into town and had breakfast again at Dot’s Diner. Only one waitress reached work, so we had to wait forever for our food. The waitresses’ two kids were with her, answering the phone and playing hangman behind the counter. The schools and just about everything were shut down for a second day. I didn’t get it. By Thursday morning the streets should have been cleared. Had the Milwaukee city crews reacted in this manner to Midwestern snow, heads would have rolled. My brother and I drove around town but mostly everything was closed. I did pick up a disposable camera and diet coke from a Walgreens. We headed back into the mountains, up to a town called Nederland. Nederland seems like a badly planned collection of buildings in the absolute middle of mountain nowhere with a huge bright sun bouncing off the snow blanket. However, they do have a Best Western, a library, and a few restaurants. We drank hot chocolate in a converted railroad car, then decided to get some food at a bar my brother’s band was scheduled to play Friday night. I ate a spinach salad and felt pretty good. We snagged some more hot chocolate and headed home.
By this time we thought the driveway, about 150 feet long, would be clear for my rental car. It wasn’t. My brother freaked out on his landlord. My brother describes his landlord as some asshole new age guy who just had a heart attack. Apparently the landlord wants to turn off power in the middle of the night to save power, etc., and agreed to plow. He and my brother shouted at each other on the phone, ending with the landlord telling my brother to “shovel his own fucking snow”. Even though my rental car was at stake, I suppose, I found two hippies screaming at each other on the phone highly entertaining. My brother was pissed. I suppose his anger and my fear coalesced in the desire to push the car down the mountain in the dark. Armed with two shovels we first cleared off the car and slowly, over about thirty minutes, dug out a circle large enough to turn the car so the front faced the bottom of the mountain. Over the next hour we pushed the car ten feet forward or so, then dug another set of trenches for the wheels, over and over again until we reached the bottom of the hill. I found the experience exhilarating. I was covered with snow, wearing sneakers instead of boots, pushing from behind while my brother drove the car, rocking backwards and forwards until we moved forward, me running behind, into the next snowdrift. We’d scream every time we succeeded. Anyone on the mountain heard us. We probably scared some deer. Once we burst through the last wall of snow, we parked the car tight against the road. I wanted to piss in the landlord’s mailbox, but my brother wouldn’t let me. We trudged up the mountain, hung up our clothes near the wood stove (the entire place is heated through wood and propane), and fell asleep.
Friday
I forgot two important points from earlier in the week:
My brother apparently doesn’t believe in smoke detectors. When I pointed out his was covered in cobwebs, he said, “we never put a battery in that, dude. Live a little.” Apparently a microwave isn’t included in his “living a little” definition, but sleeping through fires fits the definition. I didn’t tell M about the dead smoke detector until after I left, by the way.
As you may have heard, the Denver airport was completely shut down by the blizzard. Now, my brother had two gigs scheduled for Friday, and I didn’t want to attend either because of the impact they would have on a Saturday morning departure, so I had M check on moving my flight forward to Friday. Thank God she wasn’t able to do so, because all Friday flights were cancelled. I’d probably still be in the f—king airport. I also read that some nine year old kid got stuck alone in the airport. Crazy. Only one year older that T. I worry so much about my kids when I’m away from them.
My brother made a hippy breakfast, broccoli, mushroom, and potatoes, in the morning. He’s a decent cook. While he loaded his guitar down the mountain and into his car I saw a huge deer, antlers and everything, just above his house. I shot some pictures. The deer noticed me, even though I was inside, then jumped surprisingly gracefully through the snow into the trees. The temperatures were rising, up near forty, and the sun was blazing. My brother walked me to my car and I left at about ten or so. The ride down the mountain was more or less uneventful. I moved slowly, as the curves scare the hell out of me, and breathed in relief when I reached the bottom. I hate heights. By the way, my brother hates heights too. This trip reminded me of the weird quirks we had in common, like heights and a lack of social skills outside our fields (his, folk music, mine, teaching).
Boulder was open, finally, so I walked the Pearl Street mall, looking for M’s Christmas present. One knick-knack shop had promise, but nothing jumped out at me, so I opted for a cool card game I found at a game-specific store. M plays cards with the kids all the time, and I thought she’d like this game…it’s all about shapes and logic and matching. I think. The box said, “six and up”. I tried to see a movie, but I couldn’t find the theatre, and the mall parking lots were a mess, so I decided, at noon or so, to head towards Denver.
The roads into Denver were a mess. Even the highways still evidenced stray snow piles. Who the hell plowed? I ran over some of these and, between the spinning tires (we could smell burning rubber) and the rough ride, developed some rental car paranoia. I passed a couple more malls, along the highway, but cars were lined up and down the exit ramps, so I decided to skip them and hit the art museum. The trip was absolutely harrowing. Imagine driving through Dan Ryan traffic if the lanes are dotted with huge piles of snow. I had google directions, which I f—ked up, but I still managed to find the museum. I had heard some people got nasty vertigo in the new building, but I managed to avoid the feeling. The museum didn’t have many “knock it out of the park” pieces, but the modern art section was interesting, and a couple of individual collector exhibits were strong. I ran out of energy before I could complete the second building. I particularly liked a huge Pacific Islander exhibit, connecting art with cultural practices (cool canoe) and this one section with flashing, changing LCD numbers built into the floor. Oh, there was this human body form with steel rods sticking out all over the place. Very cool. Maybe I can find it on the website…I don’t remember the artist.
By this time I was tired and hungry. I reached the hotel area with a minimum of drama, stopped at a sleazy Subway for food, and hit the hotel. I’ve learned that neighborhoods near airports tend to be pretty, how shall I put it, scummy, so I planned on staying inside for the night. However, I lost my comb, so I asked the desk clerk for an extra, but she was out. I walked down the side of a busy four-lane (I felt like walking) to a large convenience store, where I bought a comb and a liter of diet coke. The hotel room was small but contained a television (yay!) and a warm, clean shower. I took two showers in two hours, ate a sub and a half, and watched two basketball games. I had a hard time sleeping. I was worried the airport wouldn’t be at full-force by the time my flight left on Saturday, and I was missing my kids big-time. Some pop tarts helped me fall asleep. Pop tarts in a hotel bed…never a bad idea.
Saturday
I woke before five. The hotel had a continental breakfast, but it didn’t open until six, so I cruised the hotel’s internet connection in the lobby. I sent some emails and checked on my flights. The continental breakfast sucked, but I ate a lot anyway, as I felt guilty about spending any more money than necessary. The owner, a fat Mexican guy, kept watching me as I ate two bagels. I was worried he was going to ask me to slow down. After breakfast I checked out, filled the car with gas, and dropped off the rental car. The interior still evidenced a decent amount of snow, esp. near the driver’s feet, but the guy checking in the car was too busy to worry.
I caught the shuttle to the airport. As we pulled up to the terminal, I could see a line stretching out along the side of the building. This did not exactly inspire confidence. However, there are advantages to flying into Denver through a non-hub airline (NWA, in this case), because I needed less than ten minutes to check my bags, whereas apparently United and Frontier customers had to wait a couple hours. Ten minutes passed before I found the end of the security line. Yes, the line was that long…I’d say probably three-quarters of a mile long. We waited ninety minutes to pass through the security gates. A young couple behind me was on the verge of missing a flight to Houston. I hope they made their connection. A set of teenagers in front of me were flying to Rockford. They did not seem amused by my Rockford jokes, but perhaps the security line isn’t the time or place for such discourse. A fight almost broke out when this huge (about ten people) white trash family cut in the security line. There is a special place in hell for that type.
My flight didn’t leave until past eleven, so I had a couple of hours to blow before leaving. No worries. I splurged on a James Elroy book (Destination Morgue) for the plane and read leftover newspapers. Dan called (my friend, not my brother) and told me this other guy we know lost his mother to a car accident. This conversation did not fit the context…strange to talk about that type of incident on your cell from an airport. After boarding we waited on the runway for about an hour until we left. I wouldn’t have minded, as I was scheduled for a two hour layover in Minneapolis, but by this point I was getting hungry. This Asian girl fell asleep next to me while I read the first hundred pages of the Ellroy. Good book, worth buying, even if I already had four books in my luggage. In Minneapolis I ate a pizza and a burrito. I was starving. Afterwards I wasn’t feeling too well (apparently pizza and burritos are not natural dietary companions), but after reading more stray newspapers, I felt a bit better. I was lucky enough to get the one seat on the Minneapolis/Milwaukee flight next to an empty seat, but my pleasure was marred by a loud guy behind me who kept on trying to pick up the young mother across the aisle. She was no catch, either, trust me. I read Spin’s end of the year issue, which I had picked up in Minneapolis, and I realized I hadn’t heard of most of the albums in their top fifty. I’m too old to keep up with that crap.
Ok, that’s it for now. This trip was important to me…I can’t quite explain why or how, just yet. Give me time. Merry Christmas.
Monday
I called my brother to find out what kind of guitar to get T for Christmas, and I found out that his girlfriend would be out of town most of the week. As we talked about guitar nuances he said, “this would be easier to show you” and, in a moment of inspiration, I talked about flying out to see him. M and I talked. She was ok with my flying out, in part, I think, because she wants to fly to NY to hang out with her mom and brothers later in the winter, and allowing me to fly out to Denver makes for good family public relations, if you know what I mean. I got online and reserved hotel rooms in Lincoln, Nebraska, for the drive out and back, then, on a lark, checked the airfares. I found a flight and car for a total of $400 bucks. Assuming I filled the gas tank eight times, at 25 bucks each, plus added 130 bucks on hotels for the way out and back, I’d be at $330. I decided to eat the seventy extra bucks and take the flight.
Tuesday
M dropped me off at the airport in the morning, and I hit the Memphis airport for a quick layover, Mystery Train style, before an early afternoon arrival in Denver. I picked the rental car from one of those way in the middle of nowhere rental car lots after a long wait for a shuttle. I decided that rental car clerk ranks high on my “jobs I never want to do” list. You have to work in these stunningly dull non-descript buildings, way out away from everything, all the while trying to convince people to buy extra insurance or upgrade to a Cadillac or something. A kid with dreadlocks and an island accent gave me my keys, and I was on my way. I followed a tollway sign towards Boulder, which led to another tollway, which led to another tollway. Six bucks later I was on the last road to Boulder. I was pissed at the toll people…false advertising, if you ask me.
Now, I haven’t been to Boulder in close to fifteen years, so I probably shouldn’t have been surprised, but I couldn’t believe the entire city had essentially become a large mall, not the Neiman-Marcus kind, but the Whole Food and Barnes and Noble kind. I hooked up with my brother in front of some coffee shop. He and I snagged a burrito, then I followed up the mountain, a thirty minute drive, and parked in the driveway next to his house. He had an open stage to host, but I was kind of tired, so I begged off and stayed home.
My brother’s rented house is crazy. The house is an A-frame, with a sleeping loft at the apex of the letter and a basement/secondary living space at the base. The main living space is between the two. You have to climb a ladder to reach the loft. A hole in the floor and additional ladder leads to the basement. The water, according to my brother, is not safe for drinking; he also has no television or microwave oven. The bathroom is pretty scummy, too. The house runs primarily on solar power and smells strongly of bad incense. Why can’t my brother ever live anywhere normal? I read Jon Savage’s incredibly detailed book on the Sex Pistols for a while, listened to Chopin, and fell asleep.
Wednesday
Snow was falling when we woke. Snow was falling later. Snow kept falling all day. We took my brother’s car into the city to shop for Christmas presents. We ate breakfast at some place called Dot’s Diner, a hot, stuffy place in a strip mall with servicable vegetarian burritos. By the time we reached Boulder the city had more or less shut down. We hit Circuit city for a home XM radio hook up, then Whole Food for water and hippy food. My brother was getting nervous about the weather, so we headed back up the mountain early. I got carsick from playing with his car satellite radio through the mountain curves. We spent the rest of the night listening to the radio, reading, and watching the snow fall. My brother assured me his landlord would plow out the rental car, now a vague outline in the snow, by morning.
Thursday
Thirty inches of snow had fallen by Thursday morning. I listened to a fascinating interview with a priest from Homeboy Industries on my brother’s satellite radio. If I drove a lot I could rationalize getting a satellite radio system myself. I’m tempted. We drove into town and had breakfast again at Dot’s Diner. Only one waitress reached work, so we had to wait forever for our food. The waitresses’ two kids were with her, answering the phone and playing hangman behind the counter. The schools and just about everything were shut down for a second day. I didn’t get it. By Thursday morning the streets should have been cleared. Had the Milwaukee city crews reacted in this manner to Midwestern snow, heads would have rolled. My brother and I drove around town but mostly everything was closed. I did pick up a disposable camera and diet coke from a Walgreens. We headed back into the mountains, up to a town called Nederland. Nederland seems like a badly planned collection of buildings in the absolute middle of mountain nowhere with a huge bright sun bouncing off the snow blanket. However, they do have a Best Western, a library, and a few restaurants. We drank hot chocolate in a converted railroad car, then decided to get some food at a bar my brother’s band was scheduled to play Friday night. I ate a spinach salad and felt pretty good. We snagged some more hot chocolate and headed home.
By this time we thought the driveway, about 150 feet long, would be clear for my rental car. It wasn’t. My brother freaked out on his landlord. My brother describes his landlord as some asshole new age guy who just had a heart attack. Apparently the landlord wants to turn off power in the middle of the night to save power, etc., and agreed to plow. He and my brother shouted at each other on the phone, ending with the landlord telling my brother to “shovel his own fucking snow”. Even though my rental car was at stake, I suppose, I found two hippies screaming at each other on the phone highly entertaining. My brother was pissed. I suppose his anger and my fear coalesced in the desire to push the car down the mountain in the dark. Armed with two shovels we first cleared off the car and slowly, over about thirty minutes, dug out a circle large enough to turn the car so the front faced the bottom of the mountain. Over the next hour we pushed the car ten feet forward or so, then dug another set of trenches for the wheels, over and over again until we reached the bottom of the hill. I found the experience exhilarating. I was covered with snow, wearing sneakers instead of boots, pushing from behind while my brother drove the car, rocking backwards and forwards until we moved forward, me running behind, into the next snowdrift. We’d scream every time we succeeded. Anyone on the mountain heard us. We probably scared some deer. Once we burst through the last wall of snow, we parked the car tight against the road. I wanted to piss in the landlord’s mailbox, but my brother wouldn’t let me. We trudged up the mountain, hung up our clothes near the wood stove (the entire place is heated through wood and propane), and fell asleep.
Friday
I forgot two important points from earlier in the week:
My brother apparently doesn’t believe in smoke detectors. When I pointed out his was covered in cobwebs, he said, “we never put a battery in that, dude. Live a little.” Apparently a microwave isn’t included in his “living a little” definition, but sleeping through fires fits the definition. I didn’t tell M about the dead smoke detector until after I left, by the way.
As you may have heard, the Denver airport was completely shut down by the blizzard. Now, my brother had two gigs scheduled for Friday, and I didn’t want to attend either because of the impact they would have on a Saturday morning departure, so I had M check on moving my flight forward to Friday. Thank God she wasn’t able to do so, because all Friday flights were cancelled. I’d probably still be in the f—king airport. I also read that some nine year old kid got stuck alone in the airport. Crazy. Only one year older that T. I worry so much about my kids when I’m away from them.
My brother made a hippy breakfast, broccoli, mushroom, and potatoes, in the morning. He’s a decent cook. While he loaded his guitar down the mountain and into his car I saw a huge deer, antlers and everything, just above his house. I shot some pictures. The deer noticed me, even though I was inside, then jumped surprisingly gracefully through the snow into the trees. The temperatures were rising, up near forty, and the sun was blazing. My brother walked me to my car and I left at about ten or so. The ride down the mountain was more or less uneventful. I moved slowly, as the curves scare the hell out of me, and breathed in relief when I reached the bottom. I hate heights. By the way, my brother hates heights too. This trip reminded me of the weird quirks we had in common, like heights and a lack of social skills outside our fields (his, folk music, mine, teaching).
Boulder was open, finally, so I walked the Pearl Street mall, looking for M’s Christmas present. One knick-knack shop had promise, but nothing jumped out at me, so I opted for a cool card game I found at a game-specific store. M plays cards with the kids all the time, and I thought she’d like this game…it’s all about shapes and logic and matching. I think. The box said, “six and up”. I tried to see a movie, but I couldn’t find the theatre, and the mall parking lots were a mess, so I decided, at noon or so, to head towards Denver.
The roads into Denver were a mess. Even the highways still evidenced stray snow piles. Who the hell plowed? I ran over some of these and, between the spinning tires (we could smell burning rubber) and the rough ride, developed some rental car paranoia. I passed a couple more malls, along the highway, but cars were lined up and down the exit ramps, so I decided to skip them and hit the art museum. The trip was absolutely harrowing. Imagine driving through Dan Ryan traffic if the lanes are dotted with huge piles of snow. I had google directions, which I f—ked up, but I still managed to find the museum. I had heard some people got nasty vertigo in the new building, but I managed to avoid the feeling. The museum didn’t have many “knock it out of the park” pieces, but the modern art section was interesting, and a couple of individual collector exhibits were strong. I ran out of energy before I could complete the second building. I particularly liked a huge Pacific Islander exhibit, connecting art with cultural practices (cool canoe) and this one section with flashing, changing LCD numbers built into the floor. Oh, there was this human body form with steel rods sticking out all over the place. Very cool. Maybe I can find it on the website…I don’t remember the artist.
By this time I was tired and hungry. I reached the hotel area with a minimum of drama, stopped at a sleazy Subway for food, and hit the hotel. I’ve learned that neighborhoods near airports tend to be pretty, how shall I put it, scummy, so I planned on staying inside for the night. However, I lost my comb, so I asked the desk clerk for an extra, but she was out. I walked down the side of a busy four-lane (I felt like walking) to a large convenience store, where I bought a comb and a liter of diet coke. The hotel room was small but contained a television (yay!) and a warm, clean shower. I took two showers in two hours, ate a sub and a half, and watched two basketball games. I had a hard time sleeping. I was worried the airport wouldn’t be at full-force by the time my flight left on Saturday, and I was missing my kids big-time. Some pop tarts helped me fall asleep. Pop tarts in a hotel bed…never a bad idea.
Saturday
I woke before five. The hotel had a continental breakfast, but it didn’t open until six, so I cruised the hotel’s internet connection in the lobby. I sent some emails and checked on my flights. The continental breakfast sucked, but I ate a lot anyway, as I felt guilty about spending any more money than necessary. The owner, a fat Mexican guy, kept watching me as I ate two bagels. I was worried he was going to ask me to slow down. After breakfast I checked out, filled the car with gas, and dropped off the rental car. The interior still evidenced a decent amount of snow, esp. near the driver’s feet, but the guy checking in the car was too busy to worry.
I caught the shuttle to the airport. As we pulled up to the terminal, I could see a line stretching out along the side of the building. This did not exactly inspire confidence. However, there are advantages to flying into Denver through a non-hub airline (NWA, in this case), because I needed less than ten minutes to check my bags, whereas apparently United and Frontier customers had to wait a couple hours. Ten minutes passed before I found the end of the security line. Yes, the line was that long…I’d say probably three-quarters of a mile long. We waited ninety minutes to pass through the security gates. A young couple behind me was on the verge of missing a flight to Houston. I hope they made their connection. A set of teenagers in front of me were flying to Rockford. They did not seem amused by my Rockford jokes, but perhaps the security line isn’t the time or place for such discourse. A fight almost broke out when this huge (about ten people) white trash family cut in the security line. There is a special place in hell for that type.
My flight didn’t leave until past eleven, so I had a couple of hours to blow before leaving. No worries. I splurged on a James Elroy book (Destination Morgue) for the plane and read leftover newspapers. Dan called (my friend, not my brother) and told me this other guy we know lost his mother to a car accident. This conversation did not fit the context…strange to talk about that type of incident on your cell from an airport. After boarding we waited on the runway for about an hour until we left. I wouldn’t have minded, as I was scheduled for a two hour layover in Minneapolis, but by this point I was getting hungry. This Asian girl fell asleep next to me while I read the first hundred pages of the Ellroy. Good book, worth buying, even if I already had four books in my luggage. In Minneapolis I ate a pizza and a burrito. I was starving. Afterwards I wasn’t feeling too well (apparently pizza and burritos are not natural dietary companions), but after reading more stray newspapers, I felt a bit better. I was lucky enough to get the one seat on the Minneapolis/Milwaukee flight next to an empty seat, but my pleasure was marred by a loud guy behind me who kept on trying to pick up the young mother across the aisle. She was no catch, either, trust me. I read Spin’s end of the year issue, which I had picked up in Minneapolis, and I realized I hadn’t heard of most of the albums in their top fifty. I’m too old to keep up with that crap.
Ok, that’s it for now. This trip was important to me…I can’t quite explain why or how, just yet. Give me time. Merry Christmas.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
12/16/06 7:19AM
Quick dream post…I was with the kids in the town of Elkhart Lake, except Elkhart Lake, in this case, was an idealized small town. The roads weren’t paved, they were tan clay, and the houses were small, spare, and well-kept. Everything seemed to revolve around one or two blocks…a lot of shade trees, what looked like an old gathering building, long and low. A house on the corner, playing slow Beethoven through speakers attached to the porch walls. The boys were with me, at least T, and I alternated between feeling extraordinarily calm and worried. I believe Elkhart Lake made an appearance, by the way, because of a mention in the newspaper last week.
I am as physically and emotionally tired as I can remember…more later.
Quick dream post…I was with the kids in the town of Elkhart Lake, except Elkhart Lake, in this case, was an idealized small town. The roads weren’t paved, they were tan clay, and the houses were small, spare, and well-kept. Everything seemed to revolve around one or two blocks…a lot of shade trees, what looked like an old gathering building, long and low. A house on the corner, playing slow Beethoven through speakers attached to the porch walls. The boys were with me, at least T, and I alternated between feeling extraordinarily calm and worried. I believe Elkhart Lake made an appearance, by the way, because of a mention in the newspaper last week.
I am as physically and emotionally tired as I can remember…more later.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Already 10:45PM, not tired yet, two beers into what could be three or four. Don't know how much sleep I'll manage. I had to deal with one too many ass clowns today. "Ass clowns". I love that phrase.
10 Bullet Post! Here we go!
* I've been doing better with staying calm and keeping the snakes off my heart. Today was rough, though. I know how easy one can fall off the path, how I can grit my teeth again, constantly, and forget how to breathe, in the wrong circumstances. The last week of the semester at a university...that's the wrong circumstance. One more day, then the waves should start breaking early. I think I'm going to avoid work-related email from next Friday through early January, and even next week I'll take the days as easily as I can.
* I took in the biedermeier show at the Milwaukee Art Museum again today. I saw it on my birthday, back in September, but the show's leaving in a few weeks, and I wanted to see the exhibit again before it left for Europe. I wouldn't expect to be that interested in a show about German furniture and whatever, but I loved the experience. The glassware and writing tables, oh, and a couple of square armchairs for which I would kill particularly caught my attention. Here's a link to the exhibit:
http://www.whosbiedermeier.com/
* I have listened to nothing but The New Pornographers in the car for the last two days, mostly "Twin Cinema" but also "Mass Romantic". Man, are the New Pornographers great. "Sing Me Spanish Techno" might be my favorite song from the last few years.
* I have played hoops four days in a row. I might break that streak tomorrow, if I'm up too late, but I'm doing ok. This morning I shot lights out in the last game. I think I hit five shots in a row. Can't complain, as I think I heard someone say when another guy went off, everybody deserves a day like that every now and then. My left knee hurts, I twisted it while covering a fast break, but I think I could handle one more run.
* I've been dreaming about the pet store with huge fish tanks again. I dream about fish, pet stores, and aquariums a lot. Last night's dream features self-generating fish...a narrator was commenting about small fish near the bottom of a tank that had emerged out of nowhere. Interesting, eh?
* I have been reading Vaz's "Saudade" on Mary's recommendation. She pointed me in the author's direction after I lent her some Murikami. I like the book so far, although I've had a hard time concentrating. More on that in a second. Anyway, I might switch to "England's Dreaming" when that arrives from the library. I feel like I need something lighter for Christmas week.
* Yesterday I watched "Talladega Nights". I liked the film more than I expected. You can't lose with a guy running around in his underwear. Even my kids get that.
* I feel like my memory is fading lately. Could that be connected to diet coke? Stress? I don't know. I can't remember people's names, which disturbs me greatly, as I'm very good with names. I couldn't remember this guy from basketball's name yesterday. Weird. I'm good at that sort of thing. Maybe I have a brain tumor.
* No huge plans this weekend. Maybe I'll catch up on transcriptions. I didn't do any yesterday. I hardly left the couch. My body was not cooperating. I also want to skip the department holiday lunch tomorrow. I might call my brother, if my mom sent his cell number, on guitar advice. I could use some time to clear my head...shopping for the kids might help.
* M's been sick and kind of tired lately. I feel badly for her. She's not usually like this. I hope she's sleeping well.
10 Bullet Post! Here we go!
* I've been doing better with staying calm and keeping the snakes off my heart. Today was rough, though. I know how easy one can fall off the path, how I can grit my teeth again, constantly, and forget how to breathe, in the wrong circumstances. The last week of the semester at a university...that's the wrong circumstance. One more day, then the waves should start breaking early. I think I'm going to avoid work-related email from next Friday through early January, and even next week I'll take the days as easily as I can.
* I took in the biedermeier show at the Milwaukee Art Museum again today. I saw it on my birthday, back in September, but the show's leaving in a few weeks, and I wanted to see the exhibit again before it left for Europe. I wouldn't expect to be that interested in a show about German furniture and whatever, but I loved the experience. The glassware and writing tables, oh, and a couple of square armchairs for which I would kill particularly caught my attention. Here's a link to the exhibit:
http://www.whosbiedermeier.com/
* I have listened to nothing but The New Pornographers in the car for the last two days, mostly "Twin Cinema" but also "Mass Romantic". Man, are the New Pornographers great. "Sing Me Spanish Techno" might be my favorite song from the last few years.
* I have played hoops four days in a row. I might break that streak tomorrow, if I'm up too late, but I'm doing ok. This morning I shot lights out in the last game. I think I hit five shots in a row. Can't complain, as I think I heard someone say when another guy went off, everybody deserves a day like that every now and then. My left knee hurts, I twisted it while covering a fast break, but I think I could handle one more run.
* I've been dreaming about the pet store with huge fish tanks again. I dream about fish, pet stores, and aquariums a lot. Last night's dream features self-generating fish...a narrator was commenting about small fish near the bottom of a tank that had emerged out of nowhere. Interesting, eh?
* I have been reading Vaz's "Saudade" on Mary's recommendation. She pointed me in the author's direction after I lent her some Murikami. I like the book so far, although I've had a hard time concentrating. More on that in a second. Anyway, I might switch to "England's Dreaming" when that arrives from the library. I feel like I need something lighter for Christmas week.
* Yesterday I watched "Talladega Nights". I liked the film more than I expected. You can't lose with a guy running around in his underwear. Even my kids get that.
* I feel like my memory is fading lately. Could that be connected to diet coke? Stress? I don't know. I can't remember people's names, which disturbs me greatly, as I'm very good with names. I couldn't remember this guy from basketball's name yesterday. Weird. I'm good at that sort of thing. Maybe I have a brain tumor.
* No huge plans this weekend. Maybe I'll catch up on transcriptions. I didn't do any yesterday. I hardly left the couch. My body was not cooperating. I also want to skip the department holiday lunch tomorrow. I might call my brother, if my mom sent his cell number, on guitar advice. I could use some time to clear my head...shopping for the kids might help.
* M's been sick and kind of tired lately. I feel badly for her. She's not usually like this. I hope she's sleeping well.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Quick dream post, and I don’t feel badly that I’m up this morning, as I fell asleep by eight-thirty. I dreamt I was doing a show, as we used to call the experience, back at WZRD. I was unprepared, as usual, so I was running from the record library to the booth (different than the real booth, at least the real booth back then, facing south instead of west). I played some Paul Kantner (I think that name emerged because Mary told me a story about sitting next to him in Amsterdam) and Cocteau Twins and ran into the mother of one of my former students in the record library. She’s kind of a liberal hippy, so I wasn’t surprised to see her there. An old black woman yelled at me for letting the sound levels get too high, and I argued with her about where the spikes landed. This dream is a bit more obtuse than usual, it seems.
I wish I had something I was really into reading. Maybe I’ll sleep a bit longer. I’m yawning.
I wish I had something I was really into reading. Maybe I’ll sleep a bit longer. I’m yawning.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Decent weekend, I guess, but way too fast, faster than usual. I'm feeling that end of the semester exhaustion. Soon I will walk away from my colleagues, thank you very much, and I don't want to see them for at least two weeks. This is the last real week of the semester, thank God. Then I get a week with hardly anyone in the office, during which I can finish my doctoral data transcription, clean my office, and otherwise decompress. Then I get a week away from everything. If I get my transcriptions done, I might stay away from doc/work for the bulk of that week. Ok, here's a ten bullet post to wrap up the weekend, save for a "Crap, I have to return to work tomorrow" Sunday night feeling.
* Yesterday I went to Michael's and bought sculpture clay. I played with the clay last night after everyone fell asleep. I tried to render a recurring meditative vision, a gray tree with a serene face, and I thought I did an ok job for my first try. I want to take a sculpture class, maybe over in Cedarburg at the arts center. Maybe I'll call them tomorrow, as their website appears outdated.
* Today I watched "Clerks 2" while M and the boys were visiting friends. The afternoon was a bit weird, actually. I thought I should do something productive, so I played with the clay a bit more, wrote a few lines of poetry that have been in my head, etc., but I felt like I needed to decompress a bit more before work tomorrow. I watched football for a while, then turned on the movie, which held up well to a second viewing. There aren't too many movies about friendship amongst loser guys. Thanks, Mr. Smith. I speak that language.
* Yesterday N and I were home most alone of the afternoon while M, T, and S attended a birthday party at a roller rink. We had fun...we made cookies together, then he played with the sculpture clay at the kitchen while I made dinner. Here's a picture:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i196/randomanthony/nov06pictures205.jpg
* Last night I couldn't find Shadow's leash, and I really wanted to take her for a walk. Man, was I pissed. I drove to both local pet stores, both of which had just closed (this was at about six PM), then bought a leash at Target. We walked through downtown, up the hill, and down some side streets. Worth it.
* Isn't the shortest day of the year coming soon? Let me check. December 20th. Not that far off. Winter's going ok, I think, considering we've already had a load of snow dropped upon Wisconsin.
* I need to play hoops tomorrow. I've hardly worked out at all in the last week, and I can feel my muscles ready to move. I'll organize my clothes tonight so I can get up and go early. The temps will be higher than last week, cold but not oppressively so, and I'm looking forward to getting on the court before tomorrow's meetings.
* Oh, we watched "Pirates of the Carribean 2", too. Man, did that ending suck. I think the producers watched "The Lord of The Rings" a bit too much beforehand. Anyway, maybe I didn't like the ending because I was enjoying the film. I didn't hate it. I love watching DVDs on double-time, by the way. I'm an impatient bastard.
* M and I also stumbled onto a show called "My Boys" last night on TBS. The show was surprisingly watchable. The film was set in Chicago, too, and at least made an attempt (e.g. mention of Kingston Mines) to retain a local feel. The apartment looked like a Chicago apartment, if that makes sense...tight against the street in a walk-up, if you know what I mean.
* I haven't read much lately. I guess I've been in the Simic a lot, but I haven't found a book that has caught and held my attention since the Klosterman. Maybe I'll go back to the Thoreau and the Francis books before Christmas. Mary recommended a few titles, or I could pick up some Murikami again. The book I need will find me soon.
* I haven't been to the museum since my birthday. Maybe next week. I'm in the mood. The museum loosens the snakes from my heart.
* Yesterday I went to Michael's and bought sculpture clay. I played with the clay last night after everyone fell asleep. I tried to render a recurring meditative vision, a gray tree with a serene face, and I thought I did an ok job for my first try. I want to take a sculpture class, maybe over in Cedarburg at the arts center. Maybe I'll call them tomorrow, as their website appears outdated.
* Today I watched "Clerks 2" while M and the boys were visiting friends. The afternoon was a bit weird, actually. I thought I should do something productive, so I played with the clay a bit more, wrote a few lines of poetry that have been in my head, etc., but I felt like I needed to decompress a bit more before work tomorrow. I watched football for a while, then turned on the movie, which held up well to a second viewing. There aren't too many movies about friendship amongst loser guys. Thanks, Mr. Smith. I speak that language.
* Yesterday N and I were home most alone of the afternoon while M, T, and S attended a birthday party at a roller rink. We had fun...we made cookies together, then he played with the sculpture clay at the kitchen while I made dinner. Here's a picture:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i196/randomanthony/nov06pictures205.jpg
* Last night I couldn't find Shadow's leash, and I really wanted to take her for a walk. Man, was I pissed. I drove to both local pet stores, both of which had just closed (this was at about six PM), then bought a leash at Target. We walked through downtown, up the hill, and down some side streets. Worth it.
* Isn't the shortest day of the year coming soon? Let me check. December 20th. Not that far off. Winter's going ok, I think, considering we've already had a load of snow dropped upon Wisconsin.
* I need to play hoops tomorrow. I've hardly worked out at all in the last week, and I can feel my muscles ready to move. I'll organize my clothes tonight so I can get up and go early. The temps will be higher than last week, cold but not oppressively so, and I'm looking forward to getting on the court before tomorrow's meetings.
* Oh, we watched "Pirates of the Carribean 2", too. Man, did that ending suck. I think the producers watched "The Lord of The Rings" a bit too much beforehand. Anyway, maybe I didn't like the ending because I was enjoying the film. I didn't hate it. I love watching DVDs on double-time, by the way. I'm an impatient bastard.
* M and I also stumbled onto a show called "My Boys" last night on TBS. The show was surprisingly watchable. The film was set in Chicago, too, and at least made an attempt (e.g. mention of Kingston Mines) to retain a local feel. The apartment looked like a Chicago apartment, if that makes sense...tight against the street in a walk-up, if you know what I mean.
* I haven't read much lately. I guess I've been in the Simic a lot, but I haven't found a book that has caught and held my attention since the Klosterman. Maybe I'll go back to the Thoreau and the Francis books before Christmas. Mary recommended a few titles, or I could pick up some Murikami again. The book I need will find me soon.
* I haven't been to the museum since my birthday. Maybe next week. I'm in the mood. The museum loosens the snakes from my heart.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Friday night, about 9:30PM, drunk and exhausted. I was watching the latest Pirates of the Carribean earlier (mostly on 2X DVD, which allows me to read the subtitles but pick and choose amongst the scenes) until I felt buzzed enough to get on the computer and write. I have to save my December entries, by the way. I have this fear that one day Blogspot will disappear, carrying off my entries into the ether.
Ok, I wanted to write about exhaustion. Maybe I'll look up the definition on one of those medical websites. I sometimes think I'm struggling with some form of exhaustion. Case in point...I have an intense inability to stay in meetings for extended periods of time. I swear, I experience something akin to a panic attack if I stay in the room of a gathering, esp. a work-related meeting, for more than thirty minutes or so, esp. if I'm not actively involved. I feel an absolute compulsion to get the hell out of the room. I guess I've always felt like I'd like to leave meetings (I doubt I'm the only one), and I tend to overload on stimuli in large groups, but I think my biological and psychological responses are growing immediate and overwhelming. I've worked really, really hard these last few years...I start to wonder if my cup is full, as far as stimuli is concerned, and I just can't take any more. As you can probably predict an inability to remain in meetings is a slight problem for an academic administrator. If I start a new job, and I need to establish myself in a new environment, I'm in trouble. I think of this guy I saw at a DPI thing a couple weeks back, a nerdy guy at one of those hotel ballroom presentations about assessment or whatever, and that poor bastard had to sit next to his dean and pretend like he was paying attention. I'd probably sit at the table and consider suicide. My friend Mary says she transcribes poetry while she spaces out. I don' know. I suppose I could find a coping device. I could not cut it as a company CEO. Anyway, today I left work at about 2:30, blowing off an Italy meeting, but, in all fairness, I didn't get home until eight or so last night, and I was loathe to stick M with the kids on her own two nights in a row.
This will be a successful weekend if I don't leave the house much. Tomorrow I might hit an art supply store. I saw this clay online that looked interesting, one that doesn't require a kiln but hardens after it dries. The material looked interesting. I know I'm not going to be super sculptor right off the bat. There's also this new-agey store in Sheboygan that looked interesting when we were up at the waterpark. So maybe I will go out tomorrow. I need a walk, too, and the temps are supposed to rise but the wind's intensity will also increase. We'll see.
Ok, starting to fade a bit, good night. One more beer.
Ok, I wanted to write about exhaustion. Maybe I'll look up the definition on one of those medical websites. I sometimes think I'm struggling with some form of exhaustion. Case in point...I have an intense inability to stay in meetings for extended periods of time. I swear, I experience something akin to a panic attack if I stay in the room of a gathering, esp. a work-related meeting, for more than thirty minutes or so, esp. if I'm not actively involved. I feel an absolute compulsion to get the hell out of the room. I guess I've always felt like I'd like to leave meetings (I doubt I'm the only one), and I tend to overload on stimuli in large groups, but I think my biological and psychological responses are growing immediate and overwhelming. I've worked really, really hard these last few years...I start to wonder if my cup is full, as far as stimuli is concerned, and I just can't take any more. As you can probably predict an inability to remain in meetings is a slight problem for an academic administrator. If I start a new job, and I need to establish myself in a new environment, I'm in trouble. I think of this guy I saw at a DPI thing a couple weeks back, a nerdy guy at one of those hotel ballroom presentations about assessment or whatever, and that poor bastard had to sit next to his dean and pretend like he was paying attention. I'd probably sit at the table and consider suicide. My friend Mary says she transcribes poetry while she spaces out. I don' know. I suppose I could find a coping device. I could not cut it as a company CEO. Anyway, today I left work at about 2:30, blowing off an Italy meeting, but, in all fairness, I didn't get home until eight or so last night, and I was loathe to stick M with the kids on her own two nights in a row.
This will be a successful weekend if I don't leave the house much. Tomorrow I might hit an art supply store. I saw this clay online that looked interesting, one that doesn't require a kiln but hardens after it dries. The material looked interesting. I know I'm not going to be super sculptor right off the bat. There's also this new-agey store in Sheboygan that looked interesting when we were up at the waterpark. So maybe I will go out tomorrow. I need a walk, too, and the temps are supposed to rise but the wind's intensity will also increase. We'll see.
Ok, starting to fade a bit, good night. One more beer.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Quick ten point post, since I can't sleep, anyway:
1. I've been doing better with the stress thing, at least until tonight. This image of a knot of snakes, a hibernaculum (is that snakes or bats?) around my heart comes to mind...tight around my heart, keeping me from breathing. And over the last few weeks the snakes have slowly let go. Tonight they feel tight again, somewhat, but I've felt my spirits rise on the improvement. Two steps forward, one step back...I could live with that.
2. I haven't played hoops for a week due to a foot injury. I'm hoping to play tomorrow, but I may sleep through the alarm if I'm not careful.
3. Cold tonight, post-apocalyptic cold. Near zero cold. When the boys wake tomorrow I will point out that, under the ice and snow, plants are sleeping, and in six months they'll wake and push through the soil. I don't know if people near the equator understand the power that knowledge can give one through difficult nights.
4. T and S have been fascinated with burning sage lately. I didn't pull much off the bushes this year, only four or five bundles, because one bush wasn't particularly strong and I didn't want to abuse the other. I might have more up in a cabinet. Anyway, the boys like lighting strands over the fire and slowly blowing on the smoke. They understand the purpose, the potential for purification, and they sense the liturgical nature of the experience. I hope they remember our lighting sage together for the rest of their lives.
5. Tomorrow will be a very long day...the unholy trinity of strategic planning, a holiday party, and a late afternoon at the office. I'm grinding my teeth. Habits are hard to break, but I'm improving. Begone snakes!
6. Painting or sculpture? That is the question. I will probably suck at both, but I want to try both. I've looked online for supplies.
7. Speaking of artistic expression T and S want guitar lessons. We'll see. Where do you find guitar lessons in the Milwaukee suburbs?
8. I don't think I say enough that my wife is an excellent mother. She'll do anything, dart gun fights, sledding, anything with the kids. She's amazing.
9. I saw "Beefest" a few days back. Stunningly bad movie. I'm disappointed in the Broken Lizard guys...they had so much potential back when "Super Troopers" was released.
10. I've been reading Borges and Simic lately. Borges shines brilliantly. Simic is interesting. More later.
1. I've been doing better with the stress thing, at least until tonight. This image of a knot of snakes, a hibernaculum (is that snakes or bats?) around my heart comes to mind...tight around my heart, keeping me from breathing. And over the last few weeks the snakes have slowly let go. Tonight they feel tight again, somewhat, but I've felt my spirits rise on the improvement. Two steps forward, one step back...I could live with that.
2. I haven't played hoops for a week due to a foot injury. I'm hoping to play tomorrow, but I may sleep through the alarm if I'm not careful.
3. Cold tonight, post-apocalyptic cold. Near zero cold. When the boys wake tomorrow I will point out that, under the ice and snow, plants are sleeping, and in six months they'll wake and push through the soil. I don't know if people near the equator understand the power that knowledge can give one through difficult nights.
4. T and S have been fascinated with burning sage lately. I didn't pull much off the bushes this year, only four or five bundles, because one bush wasn't particularly strong and I didn't want to abuse the other. I might have more up in a cabinet. Anyway, the boys like lighting strands over the fire and slowly blowing on the smoke. They understand the purpose, the potential for purification, and they sense the liturgical nature of the experience. I hope they remember our lighting sage together for the rest of their lives.
5. Tomorrow will be a very long day...the unholy trinity of strategic planning, a holiday party, and a late afternoon at the office. I'm grinding my teeth. Habits are hard to break, but I'm improving. Begone snakes!
6. Painting or sculpture? That is the question. I will probably suck at both, but I want to try both. I've looked online for supplies.
7. Speaking of artistic expression T and S want guitar lessons. We'll see. Where do you find guitar lessons in the Milwaukee suburbs?
8. I don't think I say enough that my wife is an excellent mother. She'll do anything, dart gun fights, sledding, anything with the kids. She's amazing.
9. I saw "Beefest" a few days back. Stunningly bad movie. I'm disappointed in the Broken Lizard guys...they had so much potential back when "Super Troopers" was released.
10. I've been reading Borges and Simic lately. Borges shines brilliantly. Simic is interesting. More later.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Quick dream post, before I forget...I dreamt I was enlisting in the military and the stone building at the top of the hill in "dream port" were the departure headquarters. I first climbed to the top of the building, a yellow stone building, like Chicago's old water tower but thicker, like Port's downtown buildings, but taller. A man with a ponytail, an older man, was launching a flying device of some sort. I felt an intense vertigo, enough to make me lie flat on the floor until I moved downstairs. Hundreds of men, including myself, were leaving by ship. I vaguely remember rushing for food and a bathroom (an old childhood friend was there, C. B., believe it or not), and I remember chatting with a couple people about what books I could take on the trip. The trip was related to a middle east effort of some sort. More later.
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