little boxes

and so begins the box deliveries...

essentials

bang! bang! shot ya dead

i had a pretty strange dream today. i was in a park with my grandmother and something happened; cant recall what. whatever it was, it ended up with me looking for some guy it something similar to an underground parking garage. eventually i found him and shot him. then i went back to hanging out with my grandmother.

from there, the scene shifted to me being at some small home my mother lived in. while she made dinner, i sat back playing borderlands with torres. then dinner was ready and my old friend rodondo came by.

then i woke up. i wouldnt mind knowing whatever happened with that rodondo guy.

sign that contract

big decisions dont overwhelm me, but part of me thinks they should.

welcome to the show

april 29. 1992. wait? no. october 14. 2003. yeah. thats right... i cant think of a lot of days that really changed my life, but that is definitely one of them.

sometime back in 1998, the wwf brought the insane clown posse in along with 'the oddities.' im pretty sure id heard of them at the time, but that was the first time i actually "experienced" them. from that point i was a fan. a juggalo as some would say. i bought some cd's (with money orders) through amazon and even got the vhs tape. shockumentary maybe? the one thing missing was to see them live.

in 2003 i started going to concerts. before that i thought they were big events that only people with lots of money could go to. not sure where i got that idea, but thats how it looked to me at the time. anyways, i saw that icp was coming around with kottonmouth kings and bone. icp? kmk? btnh? all in one show. whats not to like about that. plans were made. tickets were bought. and off to atlanta we went.

the show was everything i expected from what id heard. however, i found out once i got there that my expectations were quite low because what they delivered was something amazing. the faygo showers and glitter guns and the energy of the crowd made for quite the slew of memories. one of the biggest parts that i remember of the night was crowd surfing and then stopping atop the crowd and violent j spraying me with faygo. that was probably the point where i was like, "yes. this."

i wish i had pictures of the aftermath of the show. rocking the glitter-fro, brandy's pink panther sweatshirt that was a couple sizes too small, and winders ultra stiff camo pants. it had to be awesome. i had glitter in my hair for days even after multiple washes. even got called out for it at work. and we picked up a hitch hiker. thats my life. and im ok with that. 

the drive back kinda sucked. it was around 4 hours back to south carolina and the only cd i had access to was 'open your eyes' by goldfinger. it clocks in just over 37 minutes. so yeah...it was repeated multiple times.

why dont i have this?

gotta make that motor hum

well, the motors actually fine. we just had to do some stuff with the thing that shoots out the windshield stuff. that statement accurately displays the depth of my car knowledge.

still cant believe we found that thing...

i fell asleep playing the 'wraith' album. that brings back some good memories. im thinking ill hold that little gem for the next day when i dont have anything to write about.

its the end of an era

for years ghetto rainbow has been a staple of comedic entertainment for eds. from, "just the other day..." to "clapping" it has never gotten old. every once in awhile we would check out the site to see that it was still there, the same as it was back in '98. i should have downloaded some files from the site since i kinda knew it wouldnt be around forever. well, i checked it today and it was gone. excuse me. it was...(wait for it)...gone

and along with other things that have gone away this week would be x-play and depending on how you look at it, the screensavers. the screensavers went away a long time ago and was replaced with attack of the show. a horrible show. just a barrage of crap. a trash can full of poop as a penguin might say. anyways, the subject matter changed. the hosts changed. even the network. so it really wasnt even what it was anymore. but at least they were kind enough to end it how it began (with leo and patrick). anyways, what it changed to is gone now. im kinda glad about that. not so much x-play though.

i have been watching xplay for about 10 years and after so long it kinda gets to become a part of your life. not in the sense of taking over, but more like you keep up with it, notice when its not around, and catch up when you can. it also saved me from having to read a lot of reviews. when i got back from overseas adventure #3, i found out that adam sessler had left and i was all like, "dang." part of me assumed the show was going away; he wasnt so far from right. and now it has.

swerve on 'em

yeaaaaaah

and im down from 236. what?!

tonight was a trip to norwich for 'big black cadillac.' they sounded pretty decent for what/where they were...then the sound got fixed. some of the not so great qualities were a bit more noticeable then, but still not bad.

on the way back, i looked up and saw what looked like a semi in our lane and coming right for us. in that moment my first thought was swerve out of the way. luckily i wasnt driving. but im thinking that if i were, i probably would have been more used to that sort of thing and i wouldnt have thought twice about it.

i really wish i could remember the significance of "thinking twice."

the boys are back

i got word today of a pinball locomotive show coming up. its great to hear that, but do wish i could be there. as i said before, they are a talented group and i hope they truly are 'back' even though they were never really gone...

creeping like a hungry cat

interesting enough, today nothing happened worth talking about. i went out and did stuff, but it was all pretty worthless.

much like the milkman, i too had a dream. so i was in some house in what was believed to be indiana. i didnt know anybody there...but apparently i knew the cat fairly well. or maybe we had just established a relationship over the course of making dinner. he was guiding me through what to do and i was just going with the flow. it seemed a bit odd to me though because he was telling me to boil cinnamon for the crackers. yeah, i know...odd, right? boiling cinnamon for crackers? he seemed pretty sure about it though.

anyways, at some point i wanted to pick him up to check on the food or whatever. as i do a woman yells not to pick up the cat. she kinda startled me and the way she said it made me pretty sure that i didnt want to pick him up. so i dropped him. he lands on the floor and claws come out of his paws. not the normal type of claws though. these were more like the blade style claws that wolverine has in some comics.

*things that i dont recall happen* and the cat almost falls into my lap. i tried to move out of the way and at the same time push him, but being careful not to let his wolverclaws get me. then i woke up.

my first and only thought was, "why were his claws so long?"

hours later while out walking around it hit me that of all the things in that dream, his claws were the only thing i questioned. i dont know how i should feel about that.

i miss my dawgs

i do like the feeling of getting up and going out to get stuff done. i just dont like the execution of it.

get this. comet from full house. air bud from air bud...same dog!

and not to spoil zero dark thirty, but he was in the house. holy plot-twists, batman!

give it back

its often a hassle when things go changing around. there was that whole work email thing and now this myspace thing. i guess technically, or chronologically, the myspace thing was actually first, but still.

from yesterday

for the 'take action' related post, i had wanted to use a specific picture but couldnt find it anywhere. in the end, xanga came through

the same old trip as before

last night i fell asleep listening to 'take action vol 6' from the 2007 tour. it got me to thinking about all those bands that ive seen over the years and how im trying to get things here like they were in va. then i started to think...why? why bother making this adventure the same as that one but with different scenery? i think it would make more sense not trying to kill myself making a new thing into an old thing. and instead take it for what it is.

today i saw jack reacher. not too shabby.

cambridge

it feels like i put no effort into titling this.

tonight we ran off to cambridge for a little show in the lawrence arms. the venue was a little different than im used to, but then again so are a lot of things here. we had to go through a pub, down a hall, into an alley, and ended up in what was more like an art gallery. even so, it was a good time.

after that was some walking around the city to find something to do. being mostly a 'college town' there was a lot of pubs and dancing places. im cool with those things, but they arent on the top of my to-do list. when i end up in places like that its generally more of me following the group. if we get a few more in our party that may make for a better time there.

muntjac...not munkjack.

call to posts

tonight was another playing night. we switched it up a bit this time and got another guy involved. it was good to have someone around thats pretty good for the sake of getting better. i do wish i had a bass with me though because my guitar skills seem quite limited. 

it would have been nice had the guys back in va been more up for playing. i cant blame them though, it was mostly a matter of lining up our free time. had that been easier, we probably would have started up something a little more solid. there still would have been the impending 'expiration date' on that though. 

anthony mentioned to me that he had pretty much been burnt out for one reason or another and was more or less done playing. it was my somewhat consistent requests to get together for sessions that brought him back around. now pinball is practicing a bit more and getting shows together. im glad for being able to do that because those guys have a good thing going and should keep it up. hopefully i can get/keep that ball in motion for brett too.

the dirty glass

yesterday the topic of concerts came around. ten minutes later we had tickets for dropkick murphys. the drive kinda sucked because it was long (its crazy to think that i used to do that multiple times a week) and the windshield cleaner wasnt working.

in the end, the show was pretty all right. ten years ago i never wouldve guessed id be in nottingham with wilburn to see dropkick murphys. life can sure take some interesting paths sometimes.

on the way back, i had this. it was doing a lot of things right.

and in reference to my yesterday post...how did it go? not well.

take me to my best friends house

today i went and checked out a place to live; its the place next to ol' bw. its pretty nice by local standards. what i mean is, homes here are just made differently and definitely smaller. in the end im pretty sure ill take it though.

and tomorow i have this going on...

we'll see how that goes.

in other news, this is the first post ive done on time. 11:59. heck yeah.

strange terrain

today a friend posted this story about a guy hiking and dying. tis a pretty unfortunate series of events. apparently he missed his path and got lost. then it got dark. then the weather turned on them. the dog survived, but dogs are usually good for that kind of thing.

in lighter news, ive been on one of those 'buy a lot of music' things that i do whenever amazon has a big sale. i think last year they got me for about 26 albums. no final count this time around just yet... anyways, today i was going to pick up the deluxe version of 'blue sky noise' because it has the acoustic version of 'get out.' well, it does...but it also doesnt. they decided to skip that on the digital release. dang. this is why piracy happens (sometimes).

walking in a winter wonderland...

...sucks

i do not like snow. it gets in the way. i had to wear a jacket. and it sounds just awful...

straight from the underground

mom: they wont some kind of underground contest
me: oh, the harriet tubman award

i was thinking about that little exchange today. imagine my amazement when i was watching 30 rock later and she was a main point of the episode.

everybody plays guitar

ol' bw decided he wanted to learn how to play guitar. as it turns out, im the closest thing to a guitar player that he could get so im helping him out. it wouldve been nice if i had some sort of structured learning when i started playing. im thinking if i had, i would be better than i am now or at least would have progressed faster and known more things.

dont start a band

for a long time, part of me has thought itd be cool to be in a band. what held me back was mostly me because i always thought id have to be a lot better of a player than i am. after that was the fact that id need more people than just me for said band and i dont usually work with the most reliable crowd. so i settled for occasionally playing with people and let that be that.

after a bit of playing with anthony and the rest of the guys, we kinda saw that we had a good thing going. i actually could have joined them "officially" and done all that. apparently i was better than i thought. or i was just wrong in that you really dont need to be all that good. anyways, i had to pass on account of me moving. 

while all this was going on, james had expressed an interest in being a two man cover band. at first it seemed like just a passing fancy of sorts, but it came back up a few more times. next thing you know we're at our practice space, roberts house, going over songs. and again, i had to pass.

so there you have it. two opportunities came up, two opportunities passed up. three if you count their neighbors that wanted someone to jam with. but at least i got in two performances before everything was said and done.

work sucks, i know...

so i got a new jorb. somewhat. and its looking pretty promising.

maybe its time to change

ive had a lot of time for thinking lately. one of the things thats taken the most of that time was my latest overseas adventure. i got on this briefly a few entries ago, but now im going to finish those thoughts.

my virginia days came to be pretty routine. work/school stuff during the day. norva and/or roberts in the evening. it was a fine life, sure, but over time it got a little monotonous. luckily i had some hang out time with evan and the occasional trip to tonys to mix things up a bit. though i did kind of want something more. maybe not necessarily more, im thinking "fresh" would be more accurate. theres a lot of other stuff out in the world, right? i mean, thats what ive heard. maybe id like some of that stuff. maybe i wont. maybe i should just find out...

jumping forward a bit, now im going to be moving to on. that will give me something new to freshen up my days a bit. naturally that means leaving all that va stuff behind. initially, its like, "got what i want, thats cool. ill kinda miss some of this stuff here..."

as time goes on and things get closer you get all those other feelings. like that one where you start to see that the end of an era is coming up soon and all the things that youll be putting on hold. or just flat-out ending. leaving your friends and the life youve built up behind isnt a great feeling, but sometimes it is in your best interest. the one thing that helps is knowing that im doing this because i want to, you know? i was going to have to move on at some point, and at least doing it (more or less) on my terms, its easier to deal with. i take a bit of comfort in the wisdom of the bouncing souls:

nothing gold can stay.

so there it is. its time to change and leave it all behind. after all, nothing stays the same so lets see what else is going on out there...

here i go again

up early. flying. walking. waiting. walking. moes? no? donuts...walking. flying. flying. sleeping. still flying. walking. walking. walking. waiting. walking. waiting. driving. waiting. done.

here i am. back at the cross roads again.
let me stand on top of the mountain again...

get back up and do it again...

i had joked about this before, but didnt think it would really happen. i should have known better. i mean, my luck with planes and such leaves a lot to be desired.

so mechanical delays guranteed id miss my connection to london. that lead to me being moved to a flight the next morning. as dw said, nothing for me ever goes smoothly.

luckily a few things played out in my favor or the delay would have just been awful. and having someone to go through it with made it a little easier of a pill to swallow. despite how jagged it may have been.

and on an interesting note, its funny to see just how long it may take paths to cross. a guy i never talked to or even knew in high school ends up being a key part of getting through a trip to england. i wont say its a small world, because its not. its big. but it sure seems like we arent occupying a lot of the space.

this time tomorow

well, this is it. my last night in virginia for what will likely be longer than id like. at least on a regular, living basis...

i spent the beginning hanging out at a shaq show watching a few local bands. my last few shows were actually all local bands; quite the contrast from my first few. id also gotten it down to a science. perhaps ill get into that later.. over the evening it was interesting realizing just how many people ive met in my time. seeing all the familiar faces and relationships ive established. from there it was time for my standard nightly adventure through fourteen thirty-live.

you never know how things will go there. there are the calm nights of hanging back and talking to robert. the musical stylings of anthony. and of course...the live. i was somewhat hoping for the latter and thats what it was. london coats. breaking vhs tapes. throwing violins. clothed showers for kevin. pie. yule logs. darren. visions of a disappearing security deposit...

so there it is. this time tomorow, ill be in england? maybe on a plane. not really sure...but i wont be here

in the end, it was a bittersweet thing i guess. having to put all that behind me sucks quite a bit. after all, those were some of the best friendships ive made in awhile along with some of the greatest times in recent years. its good to get out and see what all the world has to offer rather than getting complacent, but wheres the line between being complacent and just being happy where you are?

...in the valley of the wizard

i went to dc to see delta rae. driving through dc isnt a great thing to do. rolling through slowly, looking for spots. creeping like a hungry cat. shouldve known it would sell out... i kind of hate the 930 club. and to a lesser extent myself...looks like ill be paying in naiveity

back to paramax headquarters for some impact zone wrestling. boy was that something bad. luckily tony made it back in time to experience it too. i think we made the right choice by picking that over whwe am raw.

this is the last song

tonight was my last norva adventure for awhile. unfortunately, it didnt go very well. i didnt care for most of what i saw/heard and it made me miss something i actually did want to see. thats what you get when you keep your word i guess.

taking my usual post-show visit to musicplayer productions. robert has a new armoire type thing so hes organizing around it and all that. at some point, i drop some knowledge on him:

"youd be surprised what you can do when you have to do stuff."

he agrees.

cold and all alone

well, its all gone now. today i took one of the worst naps ever. a cold room, a thin blanket, and a hard floor.

this is for real

i spent all day and night preparing for the move. boxing things...taking pictures...figuring out what to take... its hard to believe its actually happening. shawns here.

also, i made cookies.

these are the breaks

ive fallen off the blogging lately. i had taken a turn to just throwing up a random thing every so often but somewhere in between being lazy and not really knowing what i thought was significant, i just stopped all together. now its time to get back on the ol' horse. 

so, im thinking im going to do something like what james robert smith has been doing. rather than a full on walk through my day, its just going to be something that stood out from that day.

well, heres round one. i dont remember the specifics, but my brother and i found bane to be hilarious. and something about my dad and my bike has lead to this:

and i may put my musical reference titles behind me. ive been doing that since like '05 and it is kind of one of those things that im somewhat known for, but we'll see... 

in semi-related news, i dont feel any different.