return of the queen

living in a cat free zone was good while it lasted. now i must endure incessant yowling for a couple of days.

i hate the cat this morning.

coconut trees and jet skis?

dude, fuck.

one of the headlines was "Stones wild man Keith hurts head in tree fall." keef rocks.

it is my belief that wild man should actually be a single word, wildman. it's way more wild that way.

"wanna get wild?" she said.
no thanks.

Mexico Passes Law Making Possession of Some Drugs Legal - New York Times

hilarious

Busted, again; other lamentations

"I appreciate your cooperation"

and my reply? "I like the police as much as anyone."

fuck...how lame was that? I suppose that it was way better than my alternate scenario: waiting until he got out of his car, yelling "fuck you, copper," and speeding off. Still, I was busted by the mighty Thornton p.d. behold! No rear end lighting. Definitely an unsafe situation, which is what I told the cop. I still can't believe that I thanked him, too.

figuring that it was a lamp issue, I cruised to the automotive component mega haus. Alas, it appears that it's a wiring issue. I have no patience for automotive wiring. Monday morning will be dropping off the batmobile at my cheap boulder hippie Volvo shop. super lame lame lame lame.

I have an ear infection. This will pass just like it always does. since the genesis of the pseudoephedrine restrictions, I've had too many congestion-related ear infections. These new formulations don't work as well.

still getting sick from food. Probably means a trip to the doctor soon. fucking doctors! Meanwhile, I'm taking my vitamins.

today shall be the three b's: bass, booze, and beating off. Since rock was moved, my Saturday plans are obsolete. Maybe I'll see a movie or something, and risk another run in with the fuzz.

tomorrow is rock practice with personnel. Also, must retrieve kitty. However, the family is no longer returning my calls.

dream

i was cleaning out a lifetime of stuff from a victorian house where someone had recently died. there were a lot of shoes.

the evildoers du jour

love that propaganda machine.

in my absence

my video was approved! sweet. it has really bad sound, but it's there. perhaps i should do more advertisements. this one is from 12-25-2001, when i was seemingly estranged from everyone except my old friend austin nichols.

eat, sick, nap, repeat

after a moderately surreal morning, i figured that i should probably eat something. however, the nerves got me and i got very little if any value out of it. i decided to take a nap.

The standby-flying, devious consultant rides, again

Totally got the fuck out of Texas a day early. Sirius satellite radio does indeed rock, and amused me for the week.

saw jenn last night. Excellent.

today is getting my act together. This field clothes situation is truly dreadful. Maybe the show tonight, although I'm not sure that I'm feeling quite cool enough to attend (left my faux-hawk in Texas).

greetings from summer camp!

we wound up with much of oklahoma (home to the fam), and northern texas. basically we've been little well maniacs for two days.

this trip is everything that i had hoped for:

• ticks in really awesome places on my body;
• spending >13 hours per day driving;
• 3 tornadoes in oklahoma last night;
• splendid hot weather; and
  
• profuse bleeding.
  

otherwise, everything's super-cool. there are lots of emergency well abatements going down. i have earned the title "master abater" because of my deft use of concrete and plywood.

the dude hasn't asked me about the jesus christ yet. actually, he just zones out most of the time, and leaves me to my thoughts. i've had a lot of thoughts about stuff. one of which is that it might be an opportune time to make some changes, however none of which involve jc.

i've been feeling really decificient in a number of areas for the last week or so. fortunately (or not), these items are overshadowed by this new project, which i'm super excited about. these things feel like they are at a crossroads, and i must make some tough choices about some stuff. i know that i'll choose what's easy (i almost always do), even if it's not what will make me happy. i think that i have happiness within my grasp, but i'm feeling that urge to just compromise and settle for semi, which is all i usually can manage. hopefully, i can straighten some of this out before returning home. i really feel overwhelmed, but not in a bad way, and that's what's fucking frightening.

i hate typing on a laptop, and i must complete two classes online tonight, or suffer the wrath of the federales tomorrow. maybe more, or not, later in the week.

preflight thoughts

i really don't want to crash.

why do none of my pants fit anymore?

i know that i'm forgetting something.

blogger is fucking up this morning.

heat relief

i fell asleep on the couch this afternoon, again, surrounded by bass guitars. this cooler weather really helps me nod off. i need to hook the swamp cooler up.

unfortunately, i will not be able to fully enjoy winter's last hurrah. it looks like it's supposed to be 92 in dallas tomorrow. the dude i'm going with on this trip is another one of those geologists who's keen on jesus. thus, he knows that the planet is only 3,000 years old. baffling.

the black bass is now intonated, and sounds really mean. i really need to tighten the neck up, because it's looking pretty much bowed. oh well.

dinner is eggrolls. i have a serious jones for them.

The name game

Tossing around band names is always a hoot. Must be careful not to usurp a name and fall into the (west) trap again. Via text message is painful. I'm so not down.

otherwise, I'm utterly worthless today. things are really coming together.

illegal foto fun

this one is entirely forbidden. the intention was to take a snap of two exothermic reactions in a cell. alas, you can only see one of them. you can, however, see a dude in white tyvek unloading his truck.

the senior project manager was freaked out when the cell boyz all showed up with their spacesuits on and shot the shit with me. now i'm famous for being pals with everyone at the facility (it only seems right to be friendly).

hell? yeah.

the rock-o-rama went quite well. this previously drafted post is a non-issue. obi wan was helping me out this afternoon. maybe it was yoda.

"be hungry and want it. "

i was way more unnerved by the coors field traffic clusterfuck than by playing with someone new. the first few minutes were getting the vocabulary down, and then grindy, velvet undergroundy goodness.

it appears that the lineup for this formative band has solidified in the last 24 hours. hilarious.

godzilla didn't let me down. she sounded beautiful.

rock session

holy shit. now i'm nervous and stuff. i'll post the outcome later. the black bass has decided to have what's probably best deemed a seasonal intonation problem. grumble.

i feel sick

slept relatively well, but i'm not feeling so great this morning. it's sort of the "blood pressure sickness" feeling. i should check that.

I feel like unloading a little now

What asshole thought that the "easy-pour spout" on the handles of stoli was a good idea? They make great cat toys, just ask miss nitwit.

my email inbox is full of shit from the longmont florist. i shouldn't have given those people my address. sure, it's a reminder to send flowers (which i need), but fuck, man. email frequency >1 per week from a flower shop is unacceptable.

more email bitching....what's with "Don't miss Dave Matthews Band" in my inbox? this guy is like the bastard child of hootie and big head todd. agonizing emails. i must've given the ticket-meister my email address, too. fuckers. i can hardly wait for the show.

who else knows about "the popcorn trick?" this was news to me from the dude I was working with. Who, although he's the poster-boy for the republican party, is also way too into anal sex for my tastes. Sure, I guess it's alright, but what's in it for her? That's my take on it. I guess some chicks dig it. Whatever. Working with men is weird, because it appears that in general, they're quite sex-obsessed. I can't think of the last time I discussed sex with a male friend (that sentence didn't work out quite right, but I'm not going to fix it).

while I did locate my string stash, I'm really not feeling highly dexterous tonight. Not enough to change strings, anyway.

I think that my favorite beatles song is rain. for sure, really. Love that overactive bass line. It's all octaves, but still awesome. the "we're not drug addicts, really" version of tomorrow never knows off of anthology ii is up there, too (even if it's buried by tape loops and harmonium). anything with busy beatles bass, right? tomorrow never knows wins the prize for blowing my mind when i was about 10 with a fever at my grandparents' house. the toughest song, ever, for delierious ten-year olds.

for some reason, I thought that the tarmints were playing this weekend. My rock schedule is all off. I'd really like to get out to a show this weekend, but it's sort of unlikely. Turned down two rock sessions tonight.

I'm lame if I can't get knolls, Utah to Denver, Colorado and then to a rock session in 18 hours. Maybe it's time to start with the amphetamines again. Those make everything else appear to be in slo' mo', though. Performance-enhancing, for sure. That's my secret to rocking out the math in the high school. And, I can't remember any of it. Gin and speed in class is a dangerous combination, truly. It's too bad that I didn't stick with that (the math). Being three years ahead could've really helped out if I hadn't discovered three things: rock, drugs, and chicks. Sex, drugs and rock were my downfall. Quite cliche, but too true in my case. More about that another time.

a hell of a good time, really.

a new record, or, what mania can do for you

No, I didn't beat my masturbation record that I set a few years back...That's basically untouchable.

29 billable hours in two days. Mostly a doritos-fueled, 70-pound-cooler-lugging (Popeye arms now) good time in the desert. a little bit sunburnt.

i took one decent illegal photo of exothermic reactions in one of the RCRA cells. you see, photos are forbidden at these facilities. i wonder why...

I have a ton of things to do this weekend prior to leaving town, again.

good news! Got a couple of dates for rock auditions. One's a hippy boulder band, which doesn't sound so great. I'm hopeful for the other project, which allegedly is an "Elliott smith sort of deal," according to my secret squirrel. I have to restring the black bass tonight, if I can locate a set of strings. It's not like I can sleep or anything. Those strings were getting pretty wretched. I need to go back to the greasy-feeling coated ones, I think. My corrosive sweat thrashes nickel wound strings.

for some reason, my mother called me and left a weird voicemail late this evening.

really, though. i ought to get some rest, or i'll be worthless this weekend. a drink and i'll be out.

ha ha

but didn't they? i thought that this was funny, anyway. it's a very mahoney item.

inventory

indeed, i am going out of town, again. this shit is starting to really get on my nerves because i do not dig the flying, and i cannot make even very indefinite plans for the short-term. also, i miss the stupid cat, and i'm away from people that i love.

this trip is to fix some missing paperwork from last month (i'm not even to blame this time), and tasty leachate sampling for second quarter (i'm going to take photos).

i'm totally travelling light as far as the checked bag:

• one full face respirator, north safety products 76008A;
• four respirator cartridges, NIOSH specification for Chlorine Dioxide, Chlorine, Hydrogen Chloride, Hydrogen Flouride, Organic Vapor, Sulfur Dioxide;
• one Leatherman Wave multi-tool (this is the only reason that i have to check a bag, TSA fuckers);
• one pair levi's jeans;
• two pairs socks, black cotton;
• one pair underwear, grey cotton;
• one tan t-shirt, cameron-cole branded;
• one pair sneakers "for active adults";
• one government-issue hat, sun, hot weather, type ii, black, size 7 3/4;
• one toothbrush, cheap;
• two tubes toothpaste, closeup red;
• one waterproof field level book;
• four extra-fine sharpie markers, black;
• four ballpoint pens, generic, red;
• one aluminum clipboard;
• two padlocks;
• two packs cigarettes, newport menthol box 100's;
  
• one facility map;
• anti-perspirant;
• car charger for telephone;
• two sets, field data sheets for water level measurements, clean harbors grassy mountain facility; and
• one tube sunscreen.

another shocking news item--fucking hilarious

the best part:

"Even after adjusting for other known predictors such as being female, having divorced or separated parents, smoking, drug use, and depression, Goth identification remained the single strongest predictor of self-harm or suicide attempt, the study found.

Some other youth subcultures, such as Punk and Mosher, were also associated with self-harm, but the association was strongest for Goth."

and...

"There is a Goth subculture in the U.S., reportedly inspired by fantasy games such as Dungeons and Dragons. Others, however, contend that the Goth phenomenon has nothing to do with Dungeons and Dragons."

from Goth Youths Prone to Suicide Attempts and Self-Mutilation

I should win an award

For sleeping until 7:55.

two funny dreams:

1. I am in a bizarre love triangle with uma Thurman and winona rider. This deal culminates in a totally explicit Menage a Trois incident. There are lots of protruding hip bones and vaginas everywhere. Neither will speak to me afterwards. Bony girls can be mean, too.


2. a new energy policy encourages the use of skateboards by all Americans. I am producing an infomercial which extols the benefits of skateboarding which is to be part of the pr campaign. This is hilarious, because it's been so long that i can't skate my way out of a paper sack. The show is shot in SF, and i get some serious road rash. hee hee.
   

My mother is deranged; noise

I called to make sure that the cat is still all right out at the feline penitentiary. She kept me on the phone for 2 hours. Terrible.

after discovering the everything is fire music blog, I am addicted. The latest post has fabulous noise on it. I love "Girlfriend Announces That She Is Beginning Professional Treatment For Severe Depression." "Second Visit To A City Health Clinic - Brooklyn - Aids Test - At Start Of Potentially Serious Relationship With Recovering alcoholic And Addict" is a pretty groovy track also. Certainly, I need to stumble into a record store soon. Beautiful. These are the audio equivalent of my so-called "intense dreams."

And I wonder why I can't sleep through the night?

total meltdown

out at the utah facility. guess who gets to go? i heart this short notice shit.

the photo is of a few drums at the facility chillin' in a secure cell prior to being covered. if y'all ever want to talk secure landfill construction details, i'm your man. these drums contain the evil Polychlorinated Biphenyls. they permeate the air at this facility of doom, and allegedy cause the cancer.

another inane post

i am bored out of my mind today. busy, but bored. today is studying union pacific valuation maps from 1903 and dealing with the stuff from the car accident in KC.

my eyes are burning and car rental companies suck. and, discharge monitoring reports suck.

at least i utilized the company resources to steal some new om (release date 4-17-2006!). maybe i'm lame, but i think that it's hilarious. steal the first track from this page. it's quite a departure from the first record's evil fuzz-o-rama bass tone. this time, it's some tubey goodness.

best listened to after ingesting the magic mushrooms.

Too much stock

I had a revelation this morning at 1:30 after a particularly intense dream. Too much of my confidence into anything will end with the anguish.

the worst part of this is that it took >31 years for me to figure this one out.

competition

fuck, man. this rock thing apparently is not like it usually is. being uncontested rocks. now, i have "3 or 4" other players to deal with. truly crappy. i certainly won't win with my personality.

i require a kaptian k pep-talk before going into this thing.

lately i've been feeling like everything is going horribly wrong. this rock thing is the one addiction that i really really cannot quit. i require the spl and adoration, really. a tm pep-talk would also suffice. he always does a nice job of making me feel less than incompetant.

today's rock messaging meant admitting to being in a slayer cover band once. that might have been the wrong tack to take.

possibly a big mistake?

today i turned down a promotion at the job. truly classic timing this time, since my ability to deal is shot. tonight i'm fully domestic and totally cooking. it's unlikely that i'll even eat.

the times-call makes the am radio tonight!!

worth breaking my now-imposed blog silence, sort of. the red light story made it to the radio. pretty mighty, really. i'm so so not a fan of the reporter.

anyhow, it's huge to hear "longmont times-call" on the syndicated radio news.

This blog sucks

it appears that tonight the domain server has eaten shit, again. Behold! an excellent opportunity for a blog break.

amazing

i managed a completely anxiety-free sunday after departing the family stress fest. my afternoon involved napping and some dinking around with water filters and eating two pounds of those little cute tomatoes and watching some of the tin drum. no where to be, and no where that i'm inclined to go to. i'm pretty content. no nerves, but slightly spaced out, man.

this evening, i am a space man. i did something nice for someone, though. that makes a huge difference.

tomorrow is back in the office for the first time (except brief appearances) in three weeks. shackled to my workstation is not cool.

news item

i'm slow by a few days. here

hoppy easter, y'all!

from Jhonen Vasquez's comic, "i feel sick"

The bare minimum, or, rock bottom (epic drunk post)

I am no longer going to pieces. This was a rough afternoon, after the "news," but nothing that the scripts and beer and the fender bass cannot remedy. I decided that if I was going to enable the self-destruct mechanism, I would begin with beer and the tranquilizer (this is almost safe, compared to some vodka nonsense). I really just want to be numb, and not dead.

and now I'm on beer number 10 (thus, the phone photo, right). Should've bought a case. Still, I don't feel that drunk since I'm not much of a beer drinker anymore. We have the technology, though. Picked up some wine and still have the monopolowa if complete annihilation is what I shoot for.

watched walk the line this p.m. seems like a decent biopic, but the rock-sync is so so so so bad on a couple of numbers. That bass player was way too active. He requires Los 'ludes.

the old men with their problems really have upset me a lot this time. I've had dreams that my grandfather is dead since I was six. They still wake me up. Actually, most of my dreams involve being left alone by people that I love. Maybe I have some issue because of my father fucking disappearing on me? i'll refrain from the self-analysis here for now.

They are the nightmares that wake me up early in the morning. Those, and the "snake dream." it's like the heavy superdrunk conversation (while driving through the lodo in the ford of doom) that I had with a really good friend (one of my best) who was experiencing family decimation at the time:

friend: I hate Jesus.
me: why's that?
friend: because he takes away the people that I love.
me: fuck, man. that's heavy.

i must've gotten my lessons in empathy from marty macfly. i'm not known for great tender moments. that was one, though. I appears that it's my turn now. at last I know what that pain feels like. It's really something else, really.

these old guys aren't going to last much longer, for sure. Unfortunately, they're tough sonsofbitches that won't just have a massive stroke and be done. They have the have multiple heart attacks, strokes, and now, the embolisms. goddamn, it hurts.

I wish that I had someone provide the comfort to me, even if that would be so so so so weak.

it's too much to bear

pretty sketchy details being reported from sa today. apparently, my grandfather is in the hospital with the pulmonary embolism. this, just after the mahoney heart attack deal less than two weeks ago.

i hate it.

good sleep helps

apparently. i feel much better today.

at a bad place, some buoyancy

i will not do myself in, and i'm not even contemplating it, this time. however, i'm not feeling all elated and stuff. i hate it. too much jeremy time for sure. i can point at a trigger this time, or at least rationalize a reason for the having to ride the wave.

i didn't bother with a shirt today. so silly to get dressed, really. hopefully, this sweat-induced skin scuzz will go away if i take my top off.

i attempted to stay distracted today by doing stuff. however, going for a drive only aggravated. the oven is clean. napping. exercise!?!

6 hours of bass solo. now the arms hurt, but i think that i'm developing something through-composed. i ought to write that musical that i've thought of instead. also attempted using a pick today, which was a fucking disaster. i really need to get a smaller speaker array, too--i'm so damaging myself.

got a lead for a rock project from Dameon Merkl via myspace, of all things:

"Need a guitarist, a bassist and a drummer. At least one female who can sing, harmonize and/or do any of the above would be sweet. Influences include: 1960's Detroit, The Kinks, The Beatles, The Stones, The Velvet Underground, The Byrds, The Vaselines, Brian Jonestown Massacre and more..."

wtf does he have? songs? it really doesn't sound challenging at all, but at this point i'll bring the rock to anything. it sounds like the rc (before things got weird), sort of. i require a band. i sent the dude a message.

he replies:

Hey, man. What's up? I like a lot of 60's Rock 'n' Roll. My biggest influences are The Beatles, The Kinks, The Stones, The Velvet Underground etc. I'd like to do something like that. Kind of Garage Rock. Like Fender reverb, Jangly guitars and a little Tambourine here and there. I like harmonies, too. Do you know any chicks who can sing or play?

apparently, dude requires some chicks. sounds like we might get along (man as punctuation & chicks & fucking tambourines are what i'm really into). chicks that be down should email me.

no rockshow (tm) tonight, and i feel crummy for it (sandeigh seems like a really cool person, maybe the 29th i'll catch the badpenny). i think that i will do the show of the mighty tarmints at benders tomorrow, though. i can handle that scene for sure. seeing the kaptain is always a mood elevator.

sunday is the fam on the farm (the atheist-easter-booze-fest; probably egg-balancing as a fertility rite). i'm sort of supposed to bring a date. my mother was kind of adamant about that. i wish that she'd back off. potential dates should email me with their availability for a late lunch in lyons. there's free beer, wine, and booze.

i'm so not into getting trashed tonight, although i really would feel much better.

a "stolen tom murphy" quiz

1. What is your favorite beer?
new belgium fat tire - always buy colorado; never gives me a headache.
2. Favorite mixed drink?
i'm a fan of vodka and anything.
3. Favorite shot?
i don't do shots.
4. Who are your favorite people to go drinking with?
the champagne of beers requires the champagne of friends.
5. Favorite bar?
this changes often. currently, i'm a fan of the bar bar.
6. If you are trying to get really drunk, you drink...
at home.
7. Favorite day of the week for drinking?
thursday?
8. First drink you ever had?
schlitz malt liquor, age 2.
9. First drink you got drunk off of?
budweiser in a can, age 10.
10. Last time you had a drink?
last night.
11. Last time you got really drunk?
probably the memphis weekend.
12. Last time you got sick from drinking?
i think that i'm permanently damged.
13. Last time you passed out?
i get extremely tired from the booze. i suppose that means that it happens often.
14. What's your favorite holiday to drink?
any holiday with the fam is a drunk fest.
15. Have you ever started drinking before noon?
too often.
16. Favorite thing to eat when drunk?
this is a joke, right?
17. Favorite drinking game?
never played one.
18. Favorite person to have drunk conversations with?
my grandmother--at least we'll die together.
19. Have you ever had drunk sex?
it sure takes the edge off.
20. Favorite person to call when you are drunk?
the doctor seems to find it amusing when i operate the telephone.
21. Favorite song to sing when drinking?
it's the only time that i'll sing anything.
23. Best drunk story you ever heard?
i have a few yarns of my own.
24. What famous person would you like to go drinking with?
courtney love.
25. Where's your ideal drinking location?
at a bus stop, in five points, with laverne.
26. Any alcohol-related arrests?
it's a long story, man. i wasn't arrested, but instead released to my underwear-wearing, 9mm-brandishing stepfather.

cool

this

i had no idea

about this. interesting.

update!

still haven't felt like dealing with a razor. some photos are over there. this morning was anxiety attack and wake up early, again.

half-unpacked, and prog.

Missouri/Kansas tales (epic)

So...We totally rocked this week, an' shit. If I had been working with Jeb for the last nine months, I probably wouldn't be leaving the company. He doesn't fuck around with sit down meals (until work is done), or stop for ice cream, or have a problem getting moving before 6 a.m. and, dude loves to drink after a 15 hour day. hell yes. he appreciates lots of music, even if the shuffle dealt us depeche mode (remixes) and big black (live and hard to listen to) and rush (live) a lot, it seemed. We both think that buddy miles is the man. Also, live Hendrix rules. 'nough said 'bout the music sitch.

80 sites/52 hours = 1.53 sites per hour, bitches. On this project, that's not a shabby average at all, even considering that the office jokers caused >200 miles of back-track.

we finished on Wednesday evening (after the half gallon of beer). But....We let the cat out of the bag, and were forbidden. I wanted to get home because I hate feeling alone in the field (although Mr. Watts is pretty okay). It's not the same being out of state.

[sidebar: along those lines, you said something on the phone last night that really meant a lot to me. I want you to know that. it got me good. Felt good after processing, anyhow. You made me ache for you. Heavy.]

the "office" sent us a "package" with 20 additional sites to visit. it turns out that the so-called sites were army corps of engineers wells for the KC levee system. I advised against abatement. No one accused us of terrorism, which is always a plus, even though I look like one on the DL. I actually broke the DL fidgeting while nervous. I hate that. Really. Thus, I require another one. Perhaps I'll do the beard thing for this one.

I took some great photos, and Jeb took one for a new profile photo. I'll post those to the photodump tomorrow after I scrape my face clean and get motivated.

lessons learnt:

• there are lots of poisonous snakes in Kansas and Missouri;
• if you see that sharp sidewall-cutting rock, stop and move it;
• orange vests and hard hats are phat attire for gangland (blue gatorade "what up" sign throwin');
• other places have five fucking (?!?!?) grades of gasoline;
  
• andre the giant has a posse;
  
• the yardmaster basically knows wtf, and the environmental people do not;
• the top speed of a 2006 ford f-150 is 105 mph;
• scared rednecks with shotguns are just as scared of me as I am of them;
• in Kansas, posted "no trespassing" signs are not required;
• Kansas is infested with yellow ford mustangs and pt cruisers;
• every small town (<1,000 people) looks the same.
  
• lighters with slutty-looking females on them are the best kind;
• kansas burns;
• small town girls are really sweet to me;
• driving in reverse down main street with traffic freaks out the locals (not only consultant, but also stunt driver. i only did it for two blocks, with jeb laughing. the reverse-gear tire-squeeling didn't rest well with a girl that must've thought that we going to kidnap her. we looked like maniacs);
• the birthplace of harry truman is a wicked, wicked place. we contemplated going back in time to kill him as a newborn, even. (the man that dropped the bomb fucked up my childhood. living in fear is no way to live)
  
• missourians don't believe in turn signals; and
• lighters are really Really easy to sneak through TSA checkpoints.

I'm certain that I have additional tales, but I did make a stop at the booze barn tonight.

classic conversation snippets (I wish that I could do up these in a more dramatic fashion):

angry redneck: "don't y'all ever come back on my property without permission."
me: "we won't. We're done."

motel clerk: "you guys look good in your orange outfits. That says a lot about a person."
me: "thank you."
motel clerk: "my friend's daughter dresses like a street walker."
me: "do you have her number?"

motel clerk: "if you guys are going to be drinking, we can arrange for a ride for you."
me: (roll eyes)
Jeb: "we don't think that's necessary."
me: "we're already drunk."

Jeb (to bartender): "what's the major industry here in parsons?"
bartender: "we've got a walmart supercenter."

Jeb: "did they tell you that we were expecting a package?"
motel clerk: "no."
Jeb: "well, we are."

that's it for now, kids. I require sleep.

tornado alley or bust

i'm not looking forward to this trip. it's been a while since i had real, gut-wrenching travel anxiety. whoop, here it is. it's been bothering me for the entire weekend and then some.

much better now

thank you for your call.

fuck it

it's senseless for me to delete posts (especially since they've likely been read and the damage done), no matter how inane they are. I can rebuild them; I have the technology. Loved that show, but it's still not as cool as the bigfoot and wildboy show. i have been laying off the liquor, thus lots (and lots) of posts with potential consequences.

life is all about learning about the consequences, really.

today was visiting the folks and doing the heavy lifting chores for them. This is a really crummy thing--when the folks begin to rely on the bad kid to do stuff. Not that I mind lifting heavy objects and moving trucks. It's just a weird deal. i hate my folks not being unit-sufficient. Hopefully, husband number four will be younger than me.

finally got the DVD player functioning. I am an idiot. Watched some movies (after a run to the video mega-haus), including the hi-fidelity (I'm convinced that the dude and I have the same stereo. His looks a lot like my classic sansui). I can't believe that I've never seen this movie. The DVD's picture seems better than the last p.o.s. DVD player. An added bonus is that the menus are in English instead of the Korean, like that apex player I had.

car shopping on sundays rocks. indeed it is time for a more satisfactory ride. i have no idea what sort of cruiser to purchase, though. nothing screams out "jeremy" to me. i need to ask my friends what they think. i prefer rear wheel drive, which boils it down to pickups, muscle cars, and police cruisers. thinking muscle car, really. i'll lose my license for sure.

tonight, I'm quite concerned about a possible disappearance. I should relax, but I'm having feelings or something. I can't help it.

tomorrow, it's off to Kansas city for a week. This is the fucking water well project, which means twelve hour days of driving. Hopefully, the dude isn't an idiot like the nd. this means a reprieve for any readers because i'm not even taking a laptop this time. might do the telephone post if i'm feeling really really motivated (no secret that i can't type on a phone).

distance makes the heart grow fonder, right? hopefully not, founder. that would hurt so so so much.

i post too much

zapped a bunch of posts this morning. i think that i'm going to take some time off.

too much means that i'm high-volume and letting people in. this isn't always a good thing, really.

technology puzzlement

i can't even get a dvd player to function....what has happened to me? i guess that means no movie tonight. (insert frowny here)

Work angst--call me beavis (was a draft)

Nebraska dude (nd) was shocked by the south of heaven and my use of the devil horns at 7 a.m. he's keen on jesus, it seems. we listened to some gwar, too.

he's totally listened to the RC, and was stunned to find out that we were a post-apocalyptic-communist-satanic (I'm stunned that he bought that bullshit, but he probably didn't know wtf I was talking about) band. My rationale was that if the rock is the devil's music, we ought to embrace it. I'm not feeling like tracking down flyer jpgs tonight.

I'm sure that y'all have seen those, anyway.

take the plunge?

while this is super-cool, the lack of the three button scroll mouse is my big problem with the apple hardware. otherwise, it's a much more sexy machine. i could care less about the OS, really. although OS X is super pretty, the macs do put things in weird places. it's not as confounding as linux, though. glad to be rid of that for the most part. only one of my machines is running the linux currently.

being a bleeding edge type (relatively speaking) requires a lot of patience.

the omega concern? (rush-related) this sounds right up my alley, sort of

apparently, The Omega Concern is Alex lifeson's non-profit organization for Musical Scientists, devoted to the discovery of wonderful inventions. The Omega Stand, on which he plays his acoustic guitar, is one such, another is the stand which holds my rhyming dictionary when I'm lyric-writing, or the backlit lyric stand which Geddy uses in the studio to hold those lyrics. And, of course, not to forget the wonderful Album-Order-Deciding-Device.

from this ghastly page.

i'm far too into the classic gear, but i try to be progressive, really. solid state amplifiers are the most evil thing ever developed.

The wraith of the necromancer soars away in the night

today's blog-a-thon (not enough to do apparently) continues, my droogies....it would appear that my latest riffage is essentially the second movement of the necromancer (really funny lyrical content). one of the better early rush tunes, though. still puzzled about how prince by-tor turns evil for the next album. whatever, rush is sort of canadian, and, thus, weird.

the trippy photo: i really would like to get my hands on a rickenbacker. the 32" scale is really quite a pleasure (my acoustic is also medium scale). geddy is an ugly man, for sure.

i knew that it sounded awfully familiar, and it's even in the same key. apparently, i am a complete geddy lee poseur. who'd have thunk that listening to that shit as a stoned teenager would've imprinted like that? such a nice crunchy tone on this song.

an update from the road

talked to tito today. it appears that the mighty gb tour is going well. their bus o' doom is holding up, which is paramount for (to? fucking prepositions) tour success.

he wants to institute his own two hour a day bass solo practice schedule. i hope that he does not--he'll make everyone else in denver look even worse than he already does. filling in for him was a huge undertaking.

cocaine blues sucks

wtf is wrong with those people?!? i've told them that booking for the rc (west) is not my problem on numerous occasions. i'm fucking angry about this, but i'm not going to burn bridges with the mighty cocaine blues, although i'd like to. they've never been great people to deal with.

i'm done now.

a productive day

sort of, anyway. i got the vast majority of the pre-trip stuff done. also, played for about three hours (fingers and arms hurting now). in a moment of clarity, i found some jenn references in some very old posts (the date just came to me, suddenly). actually, i remembered the rock show and knew what else i had done that day. classic posts, really.

and...i totally got dvd player number 3. now i can watch movies at my leisure, again. tonight is crash (not even the one that won. i don't remember it being NC-17!).

some more mythology

Judas doing Jesus' bidding?

re: photo request

earlier this week, my friend janette called me for this photo. it's from a phase i environmental site assessment that we did on her last day with the company. 98 composite soil samples with a hand auger sucks. i think that they sent me because i typically crave physical labor. that, and i suck down DDT like soda pop.

stolen from jessica

this seemed like it could be fun, but what usually comes out isn't very nice. people reading this wouldn't understand some answers (i hate...). i had to tone down the humor some. (in case you're wondering, "homos" was the first thing that came to mind, but it's really not true, really.) the answers are mostly truthful, although i couldn't resist a couple where i had no answer.

first thing
You have to finish the sentence with the first thing that comes to mind. Whatever pops in your head first you have to put down.

1. I have big: shoulders.
2. I wish I was: not at home.
3. I am so tired of: anxiety.
4. I hate: dirty clothes.
5. I was: a shoe salesman.
6. My boss is: an idiot.
7. This weather: is really quite nice.
8. My friends are: smarter than i am.
9. I like to: listen to music.
10. This morning I woke up: at 5:42.
11. I am very: lazy.
12. My bed is really: comfortable.
13. My car is: really dirty.
14. My mom said that I should: date a nurse.
15. Myspace is for: wasting time.
16. When I get home: i take my shirt off.
17. My phone is: cute, like me.
18. When I am in a bad mood: i disappear.
19. My room is: quite large.
20. I want to get: penile implants.
21. I wish I had: less stuff.
22. My Computer is: one of the icons on the Windows Desktop.
23. This weekend: i'm getting ready to leave town.
24. When I get drunk I: drink more.
25. I want people to ALWAYS follow this Creed: drive with conviction, bitch.
26. The last time I watched a movie was: yesterday.
27. I wish it was: raining.
28. I feel: content.

supplement side effects

i've been taking quite a cocktail of the supplements to work on the vascular/heart health. i've resorted to this because the prescription drugs don't work, and only offer annoying side effects (coughing?).

the family history is bad enough, for sure. i have a crappy diet for the most part, and require supplements. this best reason, though, is this new attitude that i really have a lot going on, and don't pray for a heart attack any more. it's really fucking great.

lots of research on the internets led me to develop the cocktail. i really ought to cut back on the other cocktails and los smokes. that would help things out, too.

the bp seems to be down, the weight is down (not eating enough, i suppose). i feel great.

the coolest supplement is the l-arginine (vasodilator). the side effect on this one is hilarious erections. anything that helps out the blood flow is probably going to cause that, though. it's like being in junior high again or something.

i'll refrain from adding a photo to this post.

active lifestyle consequences

this is another good reason to not do the skiing thing.

feeling good now

mahoney is still in the hospital. he'll be out tomorrow.

Not much else to say, but i managed a photo that i really like of her, even if it's sort of soft focused.

Steve Reich

this is very good.

Engage coping device on my mark.

Today, while out in the middle of nowhere, I got a classic phone call from the girl that works for my folks, and will soon be working for me. Basically, this cool 20 year old says, "Mick just had a heart attack and is going to the hospital."

fucking fabulous.

of course, my mother won't answer her cell phone.

most of the way to the longmont hospital (110+ mph with steve reich pounding), I finally got my mother on the phone. She said that my presence was unnecessary. you see, I take heart attacks in the family very seriously. They've killed most of the old people. The strokes are also a heavy-hitter. Mahoney now has had two of each. this could have been the big one.

only a handful of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis folks in the fam, and they usually get a good run in the circus as the man that's turning to stone.

anyhow, I went to pieces. Still am, in fact. It's nothing that a trip to the medicine cabinet and the liquor store won't help, however. goddamn them feelings!

the nap-a-thon will have to wait, because of this shit and my hurting back.

i knew it -- cats are evil

Cats could fuel bird flu pandemic

61 THINGS ABOUT ME (was 70?) –more tom Murphy thievery

1. Initials? J.Z. It wasn't so bad until it was co-opted. Fucker.

2. Name someone with the same birthday as you: Rod Stewart.

3. Last thing you ate? After seeing the funny skit on TV, I finally gave in to my taco craving.

4. For or against same sex marriage??? It's a much more insidious question than that one issue. I'm for the government not being in the business of legislating morality.

5. Last person you hugged? Mike d. from I can lick any sob in the house.

6. Do you believe in God? Unlikely

7. How many U.S states have you been to? 23.

8. How many of the US states have you lived in? 2.

9. Ever lived outside of the US? Close, but not quite.

10. Name something you like physically about yourself? Not too fat.

11. Something non-physical you like about yourself? I’m pretty easy going.

12. What is your dad’s name? Coy Earl

13. Why are you still up? Didn’t work hard enough today.

14. Who made you angry today? No one yet.

15. Favorite type of Food? I dig the Mexican food the most.

16. What illegal things have you done? Caught only for speeding and intentional accident causing.

17. Where would you want to go on a first date? I’m pretty much completely unnerved by the dating…probably something safe like a coffee shop. I think that i'm pretty damn lucky at the moment.

18. Would you date the person who posted this before you? Tom is a pretty cool guy, but he's taken.

19. Has anyone ever sang or played for you personally? I was serenaded by a crack whore once singing Kenny Rogers lady.

20. Do you like Bush What kind of Bush? The president digusts me on a regular basis.

21. Have you ever bungee jumped? I looked into it, and I was too heavy.

22. Have you ever white-water rafted? I have never considered it.

23. Has anyone ten years older than you ever hit on you? I do pretty alright with older women for some reason.

24. Have you met a real redneck? I used to think that I was one, until I went to Utah.

25. How is the weather right now? Wtf is with the wind?

26. What are you listening to right now? The body lovers - 10:00.

27. What is your current fav song? The one that really turned me on first - Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor

28. What was the last movie you watched? Would have to be pulp fiction, because it was on.

29. Do you wear contacts? Can’t tolerate them.

30. Where was the last place you went besides your house? A hazardous waste treatment facility.

31. What are you afraid of? My own feelings.

32. How many piercings and tattoo's do you have? sort of one.

33. How many pets do you have? I think that I’m actually the pet in this relationship.

34. Have you ever loved someone? Indeed.

35. What turns you on? Spl.

36. What do you usually order from Starbucks? "An enormous coffee"

37. Are you missing someone? As long as I stay distracted, no.

38. Fave TV show? I can't think of anything really compelling at the moment.

39. Do you have an ipod? it keeps me company on really long drives.

40. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celeb? sort of.

41. Whats your mom's name? Carolann Elizabeth

42. Who would you like to see right now? I’m trying to not be needy, so no one.

43. Favorite band of all time (ONLY ONE)? Of all time is rough. Likely the Beatles (you can't really go wrong). Too many unrecognized local acts to name.

44. Have you ever been caught doing something you weren't supposed to? This is stupid.

45. Favorite flower? I love the smell of magnolias.

46. Butter, plain, or salted popcorn? I’m only going to live once, so maximize the NaCl and yellow chemical sludge!

47. What books are you reading? i think that i'm in between books at the moment. i need to pick something to read tomorrow, though.

48. Have you ever ridden in a limo? no.

49. Has anyone you were really close to passed away? no one that didn't deserve to die.

50. Do you watch MTV? oh yeah, i'm guilty.

51. What's something that really bugs you? how i whine.

52. What’s your favorite hobby? Rock.

53. Do you like Michael Jackson? No, but his music was alright once upon a time.

54. Favorite basketball team? Can’t name one.

55. Favorite cereal? I’m not big on the cereal, although I do like raisin bran.

56. Do you drive? I have been known to.

57. What's the longest time you've gone without sleep? 4 days when I was on a business trip doing facility inspections.

58. When's the last time you went bowling? It’s been ages.

59. Who was your last phone call from? Jenn.

60. Last time you were at work? Today, 6 a.m. to 5:30-ish p.m.

61. Favorite state to be in? Manic.

Can I really do it?

I really only require three or four hours of sleep per noctem. I suppose that I'll have to crank up my active lifestyle for a few days prior.

I'm way way awake after my nap, still. Damn the circadian rhythm

Completely lifted from tom Murphy

It should be no secret to my readers that transexuals really interest me. Their approach has some novelty value, but illustrates how bizarre Saudi Arabia is, which is one thing that I learned from my Algerian middle eastern studies professor (busted in the airport for Monty python videos). The mighty Tom (thanks, man) found this:

Tired of male domination, 5 Saudi women change sex
(Reuters)
5 April 2006

RIYADH -— Tired of playing second fiddle to men in Saudi Arabia, five women decided if you can'’t beat them, join them.

Al Watan newspaper said the five women underwent sex change surgery abroad over the past 12 months after they developed a "“psychological complex"” due to male domination.

The newspaper quoted a senior cleric as saying the authorities have to fill what he described as a legal vacuum by issuing laws against sex change operations.
An interior ministry official told Al Watan such cases are examined by religious authorities, and sometimes by psychologists, but those who undergo sex change are never arrested.

Required provisions for the nap-a-thon

i've heard some people running smack about me. they say "you're crazy," and "there's no way you can do this," "no one can sleep for twenty four hours," and (my favorite) "you're depressed." i'm going to prove them all wrong.

i'm physically and mentally prepared for this stunt. i am certain that my equipment is in excellent condition. there are additional items required, however, so that this doesn't go the route of the sky cycle stunt. if evel had trained as hard as i have, perhaps he would've pulled it off.

this event will be pulled off without the skullbongs or other things deemed inappropriate by the man.

• liquor;
• powerade;
• melatonin;
• lighter fluid;
• valerian root;
• doritos (what flavor? there are >10!);
• incense;
  
• an assortment of fruit juices; and
  
• smokes.
  

other things that need to be mobilized:

• vitamin supplements;
• plastic baggies (to send the underwear away);
• a 24-hour mp3 playlist (no problem);
  
• water; and
  
• additional prescription sedatives (just in case, but one must be careful with the anti-epilepsy drugs).

napping

that was one hell of a nap: but only 4 hours?!?

i think that it's time to take my napping to the next level. this saturday, april 8th, shall be my nap-a-thon. since i have no plans, it ought to be feasible. and, super-satisfying. shit, it'll be one amazing nap, man.

i shall pick up provisions in the morning, turn off the phone, and be visiting morpheus and crew by, say 10 a.m.

it's too bad that this is a rather spur of the moment event. i'd be into getting pledges to benefit children with bipolar disorder, although it has been suggested that narcolepsy is more appropriate. alas, i will not be able to auction my underwear off for charity.

recharged

slept until 6 a.m. amazing. quite a few interesting dreams, too. would not be interesting to anyone else, though.

basically non-linear as fuck.

Hugs and a shamanic droney thing: a review, sort of

I can lick any sob hugged me. This seems to be my modus operandi--hugs from bands. It's too bad that I can't make plaster casts of hugs. then, maybe kiss would write a song about me.

the rc (w) boys we're really cool to me, too. ross, neil, and I compared the matching "tattoos" (mine is the biggest and baddest because of josh coyle). we also reminisced about writing our names in urine in the street in ventura. ahh, those were the days....

although the new incarnation (tm) definitely has the passion, I just don't like what some of the tunes have turned into. everything seems a lot looser. i'm probably just jealous. the crowd responded well. it would've been better with some mushrooms.

bad penny played a sans percussion set that was really good. I must see them loud sometime soon.

jet black is well rehearsed, but that's all I really want to say about them. nothing irritates me more than name-dropping musicians. I have been known to do it, but watching the dude talk to mike d. about having played here and there, and knowing the music editor in salt lake, blah, blah, blah didn't impress either of us (not that the dude was trying to impress me much--I was the interloper on the conversation).

and, don't use a g'n'r song to fill your set. sheesh!

mike d. told me that he wants to quit doing this, and go to school. my speculation--could mean a hiatus, a breakup, or mike d. talking out of his ass from tour stupor.

hell, i had a good time. now, it's bed-time.

name game?

i think that i did this once before, but i'll memorialize it here, again, perhaps.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet and current street name) - blackie fillmore
2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on mother's side first name, favorite candy) - dean altoid
3. YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME: (first initial of first name, first 3 letters of your last name) - j. zie (yeah, big surprise there)
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite animal, name of high school) - octopus niwot? (or boulder or holmes--none of these sounds cool, man)
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) - scott san antonio (ha)
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters of your last name, last 3 letters of mother's maiden name, first 3 letters of your pet's name) - zieleynit (ick)
7. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, last product you used i.e. food, hair, etc.) the blue shower (perhaps i'm not doing this one correctly. at least it wasn't "the golden shower." i think that shower is a fixture, and not a product. oh well.)

wretched waste reagents, hazzard county drivin', and topics

whatever they were treating today was foul. the reagent that is used to bind the heavy metals, besides spotaneously combusting, also smells bad. that sulfides odor totally permeated my soul. the chemicals are housed in two big silos with an auger feed system for dispensing.

my nose is bleeding. it's probably from the evil wind.

one can jump a ditch with a 2006 silverado given a nice launch berm and enough speed. not that i would ever do something like that in a company vehicle.

it was like a nebraskan education day (ned). my topics:

• superchargers vs. turbochargers;
• bob wills; and
• wtf is western swing, anyway?

and, i still don't know what the deal is with corn cultivation.

Thanks to modern chemistry, sleep is now optional

Not really. it is supertwisted to be this awake at this hour. There's not much to do either. One would think that I was on the amphetamines or something, but really, it's just the nerves. I'm supposed to be on sedatives, but that just doesn't work too well.

i ran out of the melatonin a couple of weeks ago. that's the real problem. it means lots of nights watching infomercials and tormenting the cat (she's up too). if only i required hair restoration...

there's no way that I'm going to manage to stay up for that rockshow (tm). Not after a wholesome day of the work-o-rama. it's going to be a relatively early night after an appearance to say hello. and, a beer. yeah, i require a beer.

Five string frustration

learning the Madonna songs is incredibly aggravating without a five string. Interpolating them onto the four strings sounds really weird, usually. Perhaps I ought to just stick with the old school tracks (before five string domination).

when was the five string bass guitar invented? This is a cool bit of trivia. Apparently, the magic year is 1975 (funny coincidence, ain't it).

who'd have thunk that I'd be the same age as the extended range bass guitar? Although I've always wanted that low b, I'm still going to be a four string advocate. Perhaps the hipshot d-key is the way to go for me (really, I only require the d occasionally). It's funny that it took 24 years to develop the extended range. It's still weird to me that bass guitar is a "new" instrument. It's like the saxophone, or something. The saxophone is an engineering and artistic marvel, though. most bass guitars are not.

I do not like the "5 string guy" stigma. Damn, though, it's so tempting.

cañon city recap, etc.

we proceeded to cañon city on saturday. the plan was to go say hello to jenn's mom and uncle, and for me to meet her so-called crazy family. it turns out that mom is a real firecracker of a woman, or at least semi-volatile. and, she's little. i dig her. uncle john is a funny guy. he put me to work moving a big antique furniturey thing. we did the touristy lunch train ride. then, we drove back. i had a good time.

drinks were had, and it was late. we watched some rollins show, and movies. nitwit does not like sharing me it seems, but i think that she decided that jenn is okay.

we somehow managed to sleep in (sort of) until 9-ish in the a.m. jenn left late this morning after some obligatory news shows for a lunch date with friends.

today, i think that i am going to procure some new sneakers and brush my teeth. my mother is frantic for me to go over there, so i guess i'll do that, too.

oh no!

Cell fones tied to tumors

Truly amazing

Yesterday, I saw a couple of teenage girls attempting to use a pay phone. They were totally bewildered, and actually stopped a passerby to assist. These kids didn't look retarded, but it was clear that they'd never used a payphone and were unable to understand the instructions that are printed on pay phones.

push button; receive bacon.

impressive

driving on this tv ad for the isuzu gemini.



this is way cool, too. 37 cello parts?!?

hilarious

i'm sort of excited about today's expedition, even if it is totally touristy. should be amusing.