sunday again
The great end of the week, where you try to put everything together again and get ready for a new week. Really one of favorite days, where most likely I will be cleaning, doing laundry, and listening to music all day. Life always seems so full of possibility for some reason on this day. Well, until towards the end of the day...and you have the haunting specter of the acknowledged worst day of the week, the dreaded Monday.
Right now I'm at work, because my parents wanted to run to Costco in Greensboro, and they need someone to stay here and watch the dog, and to keep on eye on the business. They promised to buy me new golf balls at Costco, so I agreed to stay and hang out with the dog. Usually, the business phones are quiet on Sunday, and I'm over here doing laundry anyway...so I thought what the heck. And well my lunch options are pretty limited at home, so I can grab some food while I'm here. It's nice being here alone and blasting music, while the dog sits and looks at me, and I'm drinking a bottle of water.
I'm listening to the newer CD of the Polyphonic Spree, a band that I liked very much a couple years, but I completely had forgotten about them. Until, this morning when I was watching Season 3 of Scrubs, and the band appeared in an episode and sang one of their better known songs "Light & Day/Reach for the sun." The music link above says "Fans have compared them to both the Flaming Lips and the Beach Boys."
So, without question they are right up my alley as the Lips, and the Beach Boys are on my Top 10 list of the best bands ever in the world without question. It's funny how often a band like this will jump back into my conscious after sitting in a music collection un-listened to, for almost two years.
It's definitely great music to match the warm sunny day and the end of the week, where the possibility of a great new week almost seems certain.
afternoon
I'm burning back up CDs right now and listening to Sigur Ros, and drinking a bottle of water. I feel okay, despite being bored at the tedious process of creating CDs. At least I can listen to music and surf the web while I create back ups.
I was thinking more and more about creating a home office to work out of. I just need to convince my boss to let me do this, but maybe he will think it's a good idea. I have worked from home before, and I do like it, although it's always a little hard to separate your work, and home life. And of course there is always the danger of just becoming a complete recluse, and never leaving my apartment. Which I feel like now sometimes, but I would have to just make sure to get out as much as possible.
It would be kind of neat to have two computers at home, and have myself a nice home network. I would officially call my home office, 'my command center.' Where I can sit and play with my computers, and hatch my next great scheme for world domination. Or perhaps just come up with a plan to do something else in life in the next 6 months or so.
Things feel a bit stuck in place at the moment, but there is always the next minute, or the next hour to make choices and positive decisions about life.
it's been a while
I'm sitting here at work eating a navel orange, listening to the Sea and Cake, and trying to resolve a server and FTP issue. I also have an exciting day of doing database back ups ahead of me on this Saturday. I have not been blogging lately, because I've been working on a couple of writing projects. I felt compelled to write something down this morning though.
This have been kind of up and down lately in so many areas of my life, that it's been hard to feel very centered or balanced. It's the always exciting mix of old bad habits, new good habits, examining the past, and thinking about possibilities for the future. I definitely need to keep things more simple, and focus on keeping things in the present, and in just the day I'm living in.
I'm now listening to a quiet classical piece by Erik Satie on my computer. It's sort of matching my mood of being contemplative, and trying to relax after shotgunning a large cup of coffee. I was trying to give up coffee lately, but like a lot of plans lately, I'll have a great day and be full of plans and new ideas...but then the night comes, and things just become heavy. And I lose track, and by the morning I have to start all over again.
I just put a nicotine patch on, and I'm now listening to Johnny Cash doing a live version of "I Still Miss Someone" from San Quentin prison. I love the recorded version of this song because of the tinkling piano that rides through the song. Hmm, well it looks like the piano is not in the live version, but that's all right. Still a great song. Ok, now time for "Walk the Line" before I listen to the closing medley, which features the Statler Bros, and Carl Perkins.
Well, I guess I will get started on this navel orange and do some actual work.
Boo!
I'm still alive just busy!
blah
Having a blah day, not much to write about lately.
random links
These are some random web sites that I have visited today. Some are new, and some are old, but all are fascinating to me.
- Secrets of Scientology
An always fun site to re-visit and find out more about everyone's favorite "rich and vengeful religious cult."
- Adult Halloween Costumes
Lesbian porn involving two hot girls painted up to look like cats for Halloween. Wow, I don't know why, but I find this incredibly hot.
- What a drag
Article in today's Guardian newspaper, that takes apart Serge Gainsbourg's image as a "lover, wit, and songwriter"
sunday
I'm having a nice and relaxing non-church Sunday here in my apartment. I'm listening to music and thinking about how much I enjoy Sundays in general. Ok, well how much I enjoy Sunday can be directly related to whether or not I am forced to attend Presbyterian Church. This morning started off great, with me enjoying seeing my whole family and exchanging Easter baskets and candy. Well, it was all mostly centered around my 4 year old niece, who got a ton of eggs to find and open, all sorts of chocolate, and the classic game of Candy Land. I received a solid chocolate bunny, and I just ritually removed and ate the bunny ears a couple of minutes ago.
I also look forward all week to the fact that there will be 7 hours of Law & Order: Criminal Intent starting at 6pm on Bravo. I cancelled my cable recently, but somehow I am able to receive crystal clear Comedy Central and Bravo. This is great, because I have been a big fan of Vincent D'onofrio for a long time, and I think he is great and interesting in Law & Order. So, it's nice to have just these couple of channels, to be able to watch the Daily Show, South Park, Law & Order etc. On the other hand, I have watched way too much of the Desperate Housewives of Orange County, Jonathon on Blow Out, and of course Top Chef.
I was just sitting here and I came up with a really disturbing idea for a movie. I really need to write it down in my little notebook. Maybe more detail at a later point. I just realized that I must take my trash out, after cooking with onions a lot in the last few days.
Happy Sunday to all!
blue chair
I just finished cleaning a blue reclining chair, that I've brought over from the basement of my parents house. I have had this chair in my apartments and my life for about 7 years or so. I just never thought about bringing it over here really. But today, when I went to the basement to scavenge for anything useful, I noticed this chair, and thought well shoot, I might as well just bring it over. It a nice blue leather recliner, and well it's not exactly the ideal thing for my apartment...at least now there is a officially somewhere for a random person to sit down.
I've had a pretty good day so far, and I'm looking forward to making a tofu stir fry for dinner tonight. I've eaten tofu about a million times in my life, but really I have never actually bought a package of it, and then prepared it. It's really not as complicated as I thought it would be. Looks like I'm now inching closer to being an actual vegetarian. Which is just fine with me, as it has been one of my goals for many years now. Somehow I just don't have the practical knowledge to pull it off. I was thinking about buying various books from Amazon about how a person begins the transition to a vegetarian lifestyle. I understand the basic principles, but really I need something to help with the day to day life of a vegetarian. Maybe I need to find a hot vegan chef for a girlfriend or wife, like documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock did.
Well, I think I will get my tofu out now and throw it in a marinade, and also I want to bring my DVD player and TV out to set up in my main room here. I just got Wild Strawberries in the mail from Netflix, and I've been dying to watch it. I've been on quite the Bergman kick lately for some reason.
timmy & melody
I just got back from a thirty minute walk around my neighborhood. It was very interesting, because of the small details you miss from just driving. For some reason, I get excited when a random fenced-in dog will see me, and then run up and start barking. After walking two nights in a row now, I've become aware of the various houses that have dogs out in the evening. There is just something perversely entertaining about antagonizing a fenced in dog. Except this one giant dog I found fenced in on main street, who still looks like a puppy, but it is more like a miniature horse. I'm pretty sure he/she could easily jump over their picket fence, and then stand on hind legs, and look me directly in the face, and give me a resounding paw slap.
So, anyway, I really do enjoy getting an occasional glimpse into people's houses, and studying the outside, and trying to get a sense of the person or people who live there. It's almost like I can look down hidden driveways, or between fences, and deep back behind a house...and I find it all very mysterious and fascinating. It's probably not all the interesting to the people who actively inhabit the places I speak of, but I imagine all sorts of mysterious, secret, and amazing things going on...in just these small, fast walk glimpses I capture.
I decided to walk down Montague, to eventually reach my home street. Except, I got confused, and I kept thinking I ended up on some street I had never seen. I swore I was walking down Montague, but it didn't look familiar at all...so I finally decided I must have gotten on the wrong street at the Y intersection. When I finally got to the end, I found the street sign, and yes it was in fact the street I thought, Montague. This is the same street I drive down every day to get to work! I have driven down the other direction on this street, probably about a 100 times in my short time here in Danville. It was just strange I had no recognition of it. Maybe cause I was walking the other direction, or you just don't notice much when you drive.
I finally reached the street I live on, and I noticed an airbrushed fake license plate in the front window of a car...and it said "Timmy & Melody." Since Danville is a small town, I will resist the urge to publicly wonder what is going on with a man, who sounds like he should be a child trapped in a well waiting for Lassie to save him. And Melody, who somehow I'm sure has some serious front hair bangs, and some job that is irritable in some way to my every day existence. But, really, perhaps they are just about the coolest people in the world, and I should give them more of a break. You just never do know. Although, I think I have met the only interesting and great people in Danville in my opinion, and good ol' Timmy and Melody are not on the list.
I was just about two blocks from home, and I was ducking under a tree, when a gentleman appeared out of nowhere and asked if I had any money to spare. All I had on me, were my keys, and I had no cash or change...so I said sorry, and attempted to move on. He then made a motion to shake my hand, which I obliged, and he told me thanks anyway. I was walking away when he said his mother was dying of cancer, and to please pray for her. I told him that I surely will, and that he should please take it easy. I felt sorry for him, and wish I could have been more helpful, but on the other hand I have an innate distrust of someone who lays something like that onto a random stranger.
Ok, my eyes are tired, as some of you might have noticed in my picture from today.
dmv & pictures
Notes from my DMV trip this morning to get a new license
00 Minutes
* Long line at 9am, front information desk lady was surprised that I actually had all the types of identification I needed - this must be atypical
* There is the weight of past experience here - people waiting, signs about customer service everywhere, the expectation that people will get angry, government workers, ancient computer systems and 14-inch monitors.
* Waiting for my ticket to be called, trying to keep track of the people who were in the original line before me.
34 Minutes
* Woman with pink and white leather shoulder bag, with the embroidered name of a NASCAR racer. I shall call her Curly Bang hair.
* Curly Bang is telling a story about a friend of hers who tried to rob a bank on Route 29. The man was apparently on a motorcycle and attempted to rob the bank through the drive thru window. She explained to the random person next to her, that the friend had a screw loose, and was later addressed.
45 Minutes
* Dorky looking kid with beady eyes, and a very serious face is here with his Mom to get his training license. He is wearing an orange Phat Farm polo shirt.
* Very cute baby boy in the front seating row, squirming around on his mother shoulder, and looking at me with a smiling face. Is making cute baby noises and dripping all over the place. I think this cute baby drools more than anyone I have ever seen.
1 hour 19 minutes
* Finally got my picture taken, and am now waiting for my license to spit out of the squat NiSCA license printing machine. Never heard of NiSCA before, but I might investigate the company later.
1 hour 30 minutes
* The DMV adventure is done. It went smoother than I thought it would. Not so happy with the picture, but it could be worse
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New Pictures
Have you ever read this blog, and wondered what this weird Jack guy looks like? Well, I took a couple pictures of myself today and have posted them on my web site. Please forgive my tired looking eyes in the first picture. Click here to view.
