i want to move north and be a canadian

back when i was in the foreign land i met a girl named muna. we hit it off pretty well, unfortunately i left soon after meeting her. we only hung out maybe three or four times, but through the power of the internets and such we kept in touch and all that good stuff. we planned a visit on a few occasions, but for some reason it never worked out. until recently.

to be honest, i was a little unsure about the trip. we had a good chemistry or whatever, i guess. but still, i was wondering how it would go. would it be like when i left? would it be awkward? like i said, we'd only spent so much time together and then it was 2 years of just emailing. maybe i was making a mistake. i was pretty sure i wasnt, but now i know. long story short, im looking forward to our next visit.

the trip was pretty all right. vancouver is a lot nicer than around here. the people are nicer too. and i had some food that was surprisingly good. when i was in korea i often got the vegetable udon when i wasnt sure about the rest of the menu. after i left, i assumed id never eat that again. i was wrong, that was my first meal in vancouver. at another japanese restaurant i had some really good salmon teriyaki donburi. there was also a place very similar to 37 and zen with fantabulous nachos. food prices, serving size, and variety were also much better there. and and in honor of good ol' kenji, i took a trip to tim hortons. thinking about it now, food has never been anything that stood out to me enough to write about so i guess that must mean something, right?

so moving on. the time with muna was pretty great. all the uncertainty i had was gone as soon as i saw her. so yay for that. i feel like she took me all over the province. by foot. knowing how much i like live music, she even took me to a show. while the opening band was just awful, it was a good time. we had to walk through the worst part of vancouver to get there though. the place was a block from an infamous crack house and i saw a couple real, authentic crack whores. not sure how i feel about that. all in all, yeah, it was a good time and im glad i went. and ill gladly go again.

as for the actual trip...apparently vancouver is far. very far. i was on planes from 6am (eastern time) until 8:30pm (eastern time). and the layovers were pretty short too, so that was mostly airtime. when i got to the los angeles airport, to get to my next flight i was told to leave the airport and get on a bus to take me to my terminal. i get to terminal 5 and am told that for my flight i actually have to go to the international terminal. it didnt seem far so i figured id just walk back. apparently it was far. because i walked for a good while. but it was nice to be in the heat of los angeles.

on the way back things werent so smooth. when i got to chicago i was told that my flight had been canceled...yesterday. there were lots of storms and such. i was told i would be added to standby for a flight around the same time as my original which was 7am. however, if that didnt work out i wouldnt be leaving until 6pm that night. being in the airport for 12 hours was not something i was looking forward to, fortunately i got a seat on the early flight. once i got to philadelphia i ran into delays to newport news. and then just when i was near boarding time the flight was cancelled and i had to be moved to a later flight. my overall flight time was supposed to be 8pm (vancouver time) to 12:45pm (eastern time). well it was closer to 3:30 by the time i actually landed. it kinda sucked. a lot. but it was worth it. and i still got to make lunch at moes with black chris and the insane clown posse show that night. so i guess everything worked out.

random side note:

i was just looking for the picture for franco unamerican and it looked really familiar. so i started thinking i must have used it before. and i did. when howard zinn died. so i went with the backup.

they're the world's most fearsome fighting team...

today on x-play they were talking about how it's the 25 year anniversary of the original nintendo. some of the cast went over their favorite games, favorite moments, etc. naturally, it made me think of my own favorite games and moments.

while not a favorite moment, it may be the most memorable...someone broke in our house and stole my nes. it sucked, but whenever i think of nes thats the moment that i think of first. i was a little kid and pretty into it and to come home and it be gone. well...i wasnt ok with it.

on a more positive side, my favorite moment is probably when my cousin, geovanti, and i beat ninja turtles 3. we had one heck of a time getting through that game and without cheating and save points it was quite an ordeal. some of those nes games were pretty hard and i dont know if this was one of them or not. either way, when it was over we were so excited. looking back at it, i remember jumping up and down, screaming, and big smiles all around. i dont know if ive been that happy about anything since then. thats almost depressing.

ninja turtles 3 also stands out for being the first game that i saved up my own money for. so that kinda meant something i guess.

as for favorite games. no to zelda because i never cared for rpgs. yeah, i liked mario 3 a lot...who didnt? but i think my favorite may have been little nemo's dream master. and that wasnt even my game. i borrowed it from a friend in 4th grade. i went to iowa for the summer and when i got back we were living in a different neighborhood and stuff. i held onto the game for years so i could return it someday. sadly i never did. i still feel kinda bad about that. that and the whole frosty the snowman situation...but thats another story for another day.

a song with a mission

i should really post more often. things to come to mind that id like to write about, but just as quick as they come they are gone.

i like music. playing. listening. watching. which i guess kinda goes along with listening. whatever. i like music. like anybody else i have some bands that i listen to pretty often (offspring), some bands i hear once in a while (mae), some bands i heard, liked and forgot (man alive), and the bands i never got around to (queens of the stone age). there are also the times where a band i like comes out with a new album, but i overlook it in favor of the current album that is a known good (yellowcard).

so, over the last 26 days i decided that i would switch things up a bit. rather than sticking with my "go-to's" i opted to play only things i didnt hear often or hadnt heard at all. to bring some sort of organization to this whole thing, i figured id go through the alphabet. in order. alphabetical order. well, thats only partially true. i didnt have anything for x so i skipped to z, but having a numbers day made it all balance out.

when everything was said and done, the results were pretty all right. the little experiment was quite beneficial all around. it brought back some good memories, opened a few new doors...closed a few doors too.

a few highlights:

tigerbot hesh: my first taste of getting into 'the local scene.' that guy had an amazing voice and with the help of his bandmates put together some nice songs. the last time id heard them was probably live at the new brooklyn tavern in columbia, south carolina. ah...good memories.

underoath: im not sure why, but in my mind underoath was awesome. when i got to "u" i thought, "ill take this chance to hear some underoath since i like them and never listen to them." i shouldve taken that as a sign. their music...its not for me. i like a song. maybe two. likely, one.

queens of the stone age: someone played a song of theirs at work once. i couldnt make out the song, but mistook it for 'death from above 1979' and complimented their band selection. the guy replied, "hell yeah, qotsa, man." at the time, i didnt know them other than for 'little sister' so i just acknowledged their statement and moved on. when i got to q i was q-rious (see what i did there) as to what id listen to. i went with queens. and they are pretty good. good enough that they should find their way into my standard rotation.

one last note...i need bands that start with x.

it was a good day

usually my day-to-day take on life leaves me pretty underwhelmed. the days are usually pretty terrible and there isnt much i can do about it. that kinda sucks. a fair amount. but every now and then the stars and moons and planets and more stars are aligned and a day happens thats pretty all right. and even more seldom, a day comes around that's - dare i say - good?

the first couple nights of the week were plagued with bouts of congestion, struggling to breathe, and sleeplessness. that all happened to clear up sometime wednesday and i was able to get a decent nights sleep going into thursday. i even had a good night at the gym so maybe that helped too?

i hate my job. i hate wearing that uniform. well, thursday i got to get out of both. rather than sitting in a chair in a room all day, i got to wear casual clothes and paint instead. it wouldve been nice to have a little background music, but i had some cool people to work with so that was good enough for me.

thursday evening there was a blood drive. it worked out well because giving blood gets me out of exercise time the following day. and i hate that. man, do i hate that. i was able to get through the blood donation pretty quick. (it usually takes me like 20 minutes to bleed out). then went off to dinner with the ol' chris. yada yada yada we ended up at cheyennes with the mantwawn.

we drove all the way out there and realized mantwawn didnt have his id. back to his house. back to the bar/club. i only had a couple dollars on me so i was hoping it was cheap. turns out i got in for free. so yeah, it was pretty cheap. we knocked out some karaoke and danced the night away.

and there you have it. id say thats one fine day. but i wont...i used that already.

i dont want this dream; wake me up inside

i dont...not at all.

what is a juggalo?

the juggalos...first off, ive never cared for that term. kinda hate tricking, tricker and all those little variations too, but whatever, thats another story. so, the juggalos. they are quite the crowd. kinda odd, a bit obsessive at times, they do make for a good time though.

well, i went to my third icp show recently; the bang pow boom tour. id kinda fallen out of the loop and didnt even know about the album until sometime after its release and not long before the show. but, as a fan - or juggalo, i should, scratch that...could say - i was looking forward to hearing it and seeing them again. so the show came, and the show went, and the show was awesome. between their 'stage presence' and the energy in the crowd, it was probably the best show ive been to in a long time. standing in line for 30 minutes in cold, rainy weather; a packed the norva; slightly unwanted faygo showers; the juggalos, all very worth it to me. i guess that makes me a juggalo?

so what is a juggalo? i dont know, but im down with the clown and down for life, yo.

*note* this blog was in my 'drafts' since january. i remember wanting to come back to edit something, but now i barely even remember writing it.

i read some howard zinn now im always depressed

HOWARD ZINN (1922-2010)

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based
on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but
also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places--and there are so many--where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

--Howard Zinn, from "The Optimism of Uncertainty"