Friday, January 30, 2009

Don't believe the hype!

I go home tomorrow, New York City calls my name. Just in time to leave Maine I have come down with sickness. My cough tears my throat apart with every breath, my phlegm marches from my lungs like an angry militia; my nose has become nothing more than a decoration on my face, as it no longer works as an instrument of breathing. I fight back with Halls Mentho-Lyptus Fast Relief cough drops, tea with lots of honey, a fireplace, and nothing to do.

Regarding the title of this blog, I have come across a few things lately that I expected to like very much, and didn't. Currently I am reading World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. I wanted to love this book, I've heard so much praise. Too much praise. I wont go into too many details, as most of my readers (Sean and Jessica) have already discussed this with me. But in short, I do and don't like it, I just dislike more than I do like.

Also on the chopping block recently is Tropic Thunder. I, once again, really wanted to love this. I have heard great things, everyone I talk to loves it, and the previews looked hilarious. Previews often do look funny, showing the funniest parts of the movie in 30 seconds, leaving little else to be found when the whole movie comes to town. I was prepared for this, but honestly, I thought even the funny parts of the previews, put back in their rightful place of the whole movie, were much less funny. It kind of came around at the end, and there were a few funny parts that almost made it worth it(Tom Cruise), but it took a lot for me to even finish this movie. I immediately talked to my sister about it, who had heard nothing about it, and she loved it.

I think I need to just stop listening when people start talking about things they like/don't like. Or I just need to stop being the last person of the face of the earth to read/view something cool.

I just watched Forgetting Sarah Marshal, and all I'd heard about it was, "I thought it was really funny, but that might have been all the pot I smoked." So I had little to no expectations, and I thought that movie was great! I even liked Mila Kunis more than Kristen Bell, and I never saw that coming.

Also, I've been watching some movies that I love lately. Kill Bill Vol. II, and Pulp Fiction. I only watched Vol. II, because well, I don't know, I just didn't feel like watching Vol. I. I might now though. Anyway. Two great Tarantino movies, but what I really want to talk about is how fantastic Uma Thurman is. The whole scene in the 50's restaurant in Pulp Fiction is fantastic. The back forth between Mia and Vincent is incredible, they don't talk about anything, but it's so interesting. And then the dance is just, well fuck, it's just damn cool. Right now I'm just a huge Uma Thurman fan.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Trapped on a mountain in Maine.

Home sweet home. I'm not actually trapped, at least not until tomorrow(Wednesday) when the planned day of my departure will be hit with about 9-15 inches of snow. This is no real bother to me, I have readjusted to life, or the lack there of, in Maine rather nicely. (I also got suspended from work for losing a shopping bag that belonged to a guest, so the time I had asked for off, and was denied, I got off anyway. SWEET)

I'm sitting next to a fire right now, watching TV, writing, just waiting to pick my book back up for some more reading. I have done a lot of this over the past few days. You might be able to tell, I have a new liking for the act of doing nothing(at least for the time I'm home).

Here are some other things that have fallen back into my daily routine:

Driving- I don't miss it. I drive often enough in New York, even if it is just back and forth from the garage to work. But there is something to be said about not waiting for a train, or not paying someone to drive me somewhere.

Cold- This relates directly to driving. It is also cold in New York, but it just doesn't hit you the same way. I don't miss it being so cold that your car simply just will not start, at least not right away, but I've gotten used to it.

Coffee- Coffee never left my lifestyle, but it's never been anything like it is in Maine. My old coffee shop still serves some of the best coffee I've ever tasted. It may be that it's locally roasted right down the street, it may be that I used to work there, it maybe be nothing at all, but I can still sit in there for hours and just drink coffee until I pass out.

Friends(most of whom are away at school)- There is not much to do in Maine, so I have seen very few people. I went out once with my friend Amber, and saw my friend Mike once. But going along with coffee, most of my interactions with old friends have been with the people I worked with. I've seen some people I haven't seen in almost a year and a half, and it was truly great to see them. And I got free coffee.

Family- It has been great to see the family again. My parents are as great, and as parent-like as ever. It has been great to spend some time catching up with my sister, and it's of course always wonderful to see my niece, Rowan.

Food- I'm a fairly good cook, with what I have to work with(my oven lacks a rack, and is therefore not very useful). But my father is really something else in the kitchen. I really didn't have any issue with the home cooked gourmet meals prepared for me every night. There are always leftovers, which leads to what my father calls "grazing," which is me waking up and basically snacking all day until dinner it ready that night.

Once the storm comes and goes I will return to New York, and I will love it as I always have. It has, however, been great to come home and slow my life down a little bit. Things like this make me thankful for my recession based work schedule. Oh, and getting suspended.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Hydration

I think it started with some late night, maybe early morning, drunken talks about milkshakes and eggs. It was around the time Jen made an omelet, and would not share it with anyone(I stole a few bites during some distraction). There was hot sauce involved. With the eggs, not the distraction. But anyway, somewhere in all this, it was decided that we should all go to breakfast the next morning.

When that morning came around, that afternoon(far too early), we got up and soldiered on down the street for some breakfast. Being that it was at least 1:30, and I was no longer interested in an omelet, I got a BLT. The food, however, is not really important. At first we started with drinks. I order coffee, a glass of orange juice, and a glass of water. I mean business. Food comes and my friend and I remember that this all started with the idea of milkshakes. Waiter comes back around, we order milkshakes. At this point I barely have room on the table for my food, as most of my space is taken up by my drinks.

What I love about diners is the coffee, it's not great, but you know exactly what you're getting. Diner coffee is like gas station coffee, it all tastes the same. It's coffee that you just love it because whenever you get coffee at a diner or a gas station it's because you really fucking need a cup of coffee. Diners though, you're coffee never runs out. I don't know that I've ever finished a cup of coffee from a diner because that guy/girl always comes around to fill it back up before you're done. Fantastic. It's hard to say how much coffee I drank this past morning at breakfast, but I never finished it.

Anyway, I drank my endless cup of joe, and OJ, my water, and my milkshake(mostly of principle, milkshakes are not a fantastic hangover choice). Breakfast ends, we get a bill, we were not charged for our shakes(fuck yeah), and we all go out separate ways. It's around midway through my hourish long subway trip home that all my drinks catch up with me. Oh man, was I hydrated. Some might even say that I drink too much, and my bladder would agree.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Coffee, and beer.

Coffee is such an important part of my life, I live breath sleep coffee. Beer is also a pretty great thing. I'm pretty picky about both, more so coffee(due to the fact that I just know more about it). I like strong dark roasted black coffee. I like dark beers too. Coffee and beers are just great. Put them together, oh man.

They've been together for a while, well, at least coffee and alcohol that is. Irish coffee, everyone knows that. And then a few months ago my friend Patrick told me about putting espresso in Guinness, tried it, loved it. It adds that almost dark chocolate taste to the Guinness, with a very strong espresso aftertaste. It's really great.

Then the other day I was reading Time Out New York(I love that magazine), and I saw something awesome. Straight out of some Portland ME brewery, Peak Organic Espresso Amber Ale. It's beer MADE with espresso beans. It's a lighter beer, the article I read said that is not typical, which can only mean there are other beers out there MADE with coffee. Sure, the the espresso will give it a strong bitter taste, so I'm willing to give it a shot. Also it's from Maine. I guess you can get it at Whole Foods down here in New York. But I'd love to know of some other, darker, beers made with coffee. Until then I'll just continue with some espresso in my Guinness from time to time.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Read this. Eat this. Don't look around.

Working overnight has given me so much time to read. I busted through the the last 400 or so pages of Feast for Crows in the last few days. I seriously spend like 4 to 5 hours of my work day with a book in my hand. Anyway, this epic installment of the epic Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin is finally done. I'm caught up in the series now and am eagerly awaiting the next book, A Dance with Dragons, to be published. I don't know what else to do know, I started the books a couple years ago, with 4 1000+ page novels at my finger tips. Reading one, read a few other books, read another, a few more random books, and so on and so forth. But now I have to wait. I'm not just taking a break from the best books I've ever read, I'm just done for now. And once the new one comes out, and I read that, it will be years before the next. I guess I could start it over, it will probably be needed. I've got plenty more to read, I'm just kind of sad, and jealous of Jessica, who is just starting it.

I might go home for a little while. I have from 7:30 Friday morning until 11:30 Tuesday night off now. So I figure next Friday after work I'll hop a bus to Maine and spend a few days, leaving either Monday, or Tuesday. I'd like it to work out so that I can immediately go to Orono for two days and see some old friends, and then come back to Mid-Coast for the family hangs for a couple days then come back to New York. This depends on Sara and Kathryn though. But now that I've got in my head that I'm going home, I think it will happen regardless, but I just might not spend a few days in Orono.

I feel like I had more to say when I started this. The L train sucks all weekend, running in two parts. Huge pain in the ass.

I should go to bed. Maybe I'll go out for breakfast.

I've relearned how to park. My ability go drive in reverse is back.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Lack of sleep? Head injury? Maybe it's just me.

Last night at work I did so much reading.
It was really cool.

I've been thinking a lot about myself lately. Once my mother told me that she and my father always thought I was weird. Not in a mean way, just in the truthful way. I've been thinking a lot about the things I care/don't care about. And my mother and father are totally right.

I just wrote a blog about the three parts of a proper apology, according to Randy Pausch, and what I thought about it. I read it, and I couldn't publish it. I thought to myself, "People are going to read this, think I'm a bad person, and never accept an apology from me again." So I tried once again to convey the same idea through a different subject, and the same thing happened.

I was talking with my friend, Dave, about writing the other night. I explained how I am trying to write this piece, and I have everything worked for how and what I want to happen, but I can't write it. My problem is the truth, it's laced all through my current idea. I can't help but feel that if anyone that inspired any of these truths were to read it, they would know it for exactly what it was, and probably be pissed off. I shouldn't worry, seeing as I don't even talk to most of those people anymore, much less would I let them read my writing(most of the don't read). Dave pointed out that that is just the way writing is(I know that, but hearing out loud was good too), and that you just reach a point where you say fuck it, and do it anyway. I never had this problem before, not to say that previous writing was any less hurtfully truthful(going back to the things I care/don't care about). During the discussion I did work out a way to finally begin my piece, and once I get some flow going, I'm sure I will stop caring what anyone thinks and return to my normal self.

I guess my point might be lost in there, I think I'm trying to say that over all I feel I just don't work the way most people do, and I notice it more and more lately. I'm weird.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Day in the life.

Today I woke up at like 1:30 when James from New York Adorned called to confirm my appointment with Virginia Elwood tomorrow. I stayed in bed, eventually fell back asleep until about 3:30 or 4, and immediately stole Furman's space heater. That's not true, it took me a while to get out of bed because it was so damn cold, but as soon as I was out of bed I stole it.

I have been back in bed since that point, being warm, and debating what I should do. I've got my computer, full of all the music I stole from Sean after losing all of mine. I just sit with shuffle, skipping track after track trying to find something I want to listen to. I've found a bunch of new bands that I like, Have Heart, Polar Bear Club, Bear vs Shark, Between the buried and me, yada yada. Today though my shuffle threw some Kelly Clarkson at me. Yeah, I stole it from Sean, but I'm not ashamed to say I didn't delete it. It was some song I haven't heard, and I was like, "whoa, no way!" and pushed skip. But then I went back....and found "Since you've been gone." And yeah, it was a pretty good time.

I almost got up and went to Life Cafe for lunch and a bloody mary(Im addicted to those from work), but instead I decided it would be a better idea for me to just go shopping and buy some food of my own. That way I wouldn't have to buy myself lunch and dinner everynight. Thats the right idea, I just haven't gotten out of bed yet.

I feel like I should do something productive. If I stay in bed, I could write, or read. That's productive, right?

I need a bookshelf. But that would be a hassle.

I think I might try to get some time off this month, since I'm hardly working anyway. I don't know if it will be possible, but I'll try. I'd like to go spend a few days in Orono with some friends. Maybe I could talk Kathryn in to picking me up from the bus station. That would be rad.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Boredom Block

Any of you use myspace? Probably, I know it was the weed to my drug problem I call the internet, a gateway site. Well, anyway, you know those "Need a Girlfriend?" adds? The ones with the hot young girl, doing nothing but looking like a hot young girl. Yeah, those ones. Those adds are fantastic. Whoever does the casting for those photos in awesome.

All the girls used are so fucking typical, they look just like all your friends, only hotter. She looks just like that girl you met at the bar the other night, or at least what your beer goggles told you she looked like. Chances are when you look at the add, you see the girl and it looks just like whatshername, only kind of better(probably only because shes just a photo on the internet, and therefore less annoying).

I'm really only blogging to get some words out. I went to write something (not a blog) and it just wouldn't come out. I more or less have the idea, I know what I want to write, it's just not happening. How I wrote before was different, something come to me very all of the sudden, usually last minute, and I would just sit down and write pages and pages in not time at all, and then go back and edit it later. I ALWAYS wrote better under pressure. Maybe it's the lack of due dates and assignments that's slowing me down. Maybe it's just that I can't take what someone tells me to write so loosely that it hardly even counts, but then, oh, it still does.

I had a Writers of Maine(it's a state) class once, and the teacher told us to write about what wilderness meant to us. This was right around the time I no longer saw trees as living things, but objects to hang myself from(I didn't write about that). So I wrote about New York, and sidewalks, four lane roads, brick buildings, carfully constructed concrete, all the busy people, blah blah blah. I wrote about how I had grown so sick of my surroundings and my idea of wilderness had changed to the city. The only time I mentioned actual plants and green things was during the part detailing the change of scenery that took place on the bus ride out of Maine. My teahcer hated it, completely. Told me I missed the point, and basically did it wrong. Meaning, I didn't write about how beautiful the foot and a half of snow outside was. But I argued my point, which was more or less a verbal bulleted list of the main points that my paper shared in detail. She gave me a good grade, but I think she disliked me as a person from that point on. I was pleased with myself.

I think I'll read now.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Wake up, smoke crack, name your kid

What happens to people when they name their kids? Some people lose at this game, for real. Names are important, parents are giving it to their kid for his/her whole damn life, so why are their so many shitty names out their? There are a good amount of really great names out their, the classics, why fuck with those?

Peter
James
Patrick
(yes, my parents did a pretty good job with my names)
John
Daniel

Samantha
Brianna
Jeniffer
Caitlin
Sarah
Catherine

Those are all good ole' classic names. Granted, that's not a lot of names to go around, but there are so many more out there. Not enough apparently. People need to just stop making up their own names, someone did it a very long time ago and they did it right. Now people are just mixing shit up. Combining names. I swear people just put names in a hat, draw two, and then mash them together to form one new name. Fuck that.

Jennica(sorry if this is your name), are you serious? Jessica, and Jennifer. What the fuck was wrong with just one of those names? Her parents had to have both, greed. I guess it's a good thing she wasn't named Jessifer, save that for the next kid.

Ashley-lynn. Okay, this one is actually a really cute name, if I added the lynn to the end to show affection to a friend, not because it was actually supposed to be there. As I said, I really do like this one, but I have to hate it on principle. I dislike all hyphenated names(taking two last names is dumb). Adding lynn to an existing name does not make it a new name, just throw lynn in as a middle name, problem solved. The same goes for Ann. Anne is a fine name on it's own, it does not need to be stuck on the end of some other name.

Spelling is another thing, changing the spelling of well spelled names is just stupid. Kaycie? Really? Why would you do that?

I also believe that people should not be named after states(except maybe Virginia). Montana? Come on. You want to name your kid after a big chunk of land. I swear, the next person I meet will probably be named North Dakota. NoDak might be a cool nickname.

I suppose it could be worse. Kids named America, or Vegetarian, Apple(shit, that already happened). People will soon start mixing all the things I talked about together, Jenakota-lynn. Oh the possibilities.

I think there is a reason strippers have stripper names, why name your kid one of those?

I feel like I'm being unfair though, only showing terrible female names, I just haven't really ever run into anyone named Johiel, or Patrer. If I do though, I'll be sure to let you know. I'm sure there are plenty of just as terrible male names out there, I just don't know them. I'm not a huge fan of Toby.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Here they come, ten thousand strong

Today blew, in an epic sort of blowing way. The kind where you have things to do, things you want to get accomplished, and then when you do them you feel let down.

Last night I worked over-night, as my new recession based schedule demands, and didn't get home until about 8AM. At this point I had to wait around until 9ish for an electrician to come fix our broken half of the apt. He came around 10. To stay for all of 30 seconds, and show me how easy it would have been to fix myself. It apparently does not take much electrical knowledge to push a switch, it does however require baggy pants and some fresh white D&G eye glasses. A pretty cool flat rimmed hat as well, for kicks. Oh man, dont get me started on the kicks. Thanks, I guess.

I went to bed at the point, I at least got in bed, for a nap before returning to work. Yes, I had to be back at work at 2pm for a "mandatory full staff meeting" where all the goals and such for the new year would be addressed. knowing that no meeting I have ever attended started on time, I slept(napped) a little late, and took my time getting on my way. I show up only a minute or two late, but I have no idea where in the building the meeting is. They didn't tell anyone until the day of, and since it had already started there really wasn't anyone for me to ask. I had to wait for someone who was later than I was(who somehow just knew where it was). I show up maybe 2:05, the meeting is under way. Literally 5 minutes later, the meeting is over. I was later informed that I showed up just about as it started too. During my time at this meeting I was informed that we should continue to do our jobs well, and that we are getting new T.V.s for the rooms. Mind-fuck. Are you serious? What am I doing here? Have you ever heard of a bulletin board? No meeting required. Here is an example of how this meeting could have been avoided altogether.

-Do you jobs well!
-We're getting new T.V.s, don't fucking break them.
-Don't break anything else either, we have very little money.

Ah, fuck it. I wanted to come into the city anyway, and I probably would not have done this if I was not required to. I set up an appointment with Virginia Elwood to get some script tattooed on my chest. "Words wont save your life." It's a Hold Steady lyric, and I like it. That's about all there is to it, I think it fits me(that whole writer thing). That is seriously the closet thing to meaning any of my tattoos will have thus far. Unless you count my "eat meat" zombie tattoo. I don't like vegetarians much.
But anyway, so I made the appointment. I made my deposit to ensure that I would indeed come to it. And then I asked how much. The deposit was $100, so I asked the assistant that helped me if that was the hourly rate. No, it is not. The shop price is $180 and hour. But she was unsure how much the tattoo would cost, Virginia will tell me when she draws it up. Despite my confusion over an hourly rate, a booked 2 hour session, and someone still telling they wouldn't know how much it cost until later, I moved on. This tattoo has proved to be stupid in the way that I want to get it done, and it's harder than it should be. Mainly due to really good tattoo artists are really hard to get time with, and I'm really fucking lazy.
But seriously, I haven't paid shop prices in so freaking long. The zombie on my leg, and my ribs are the only ones. Which both worked out to be about $100 an hour. But seriously, $180 an hour? Who are you, Tim Kern? I think not.
Whatever, I'm going to suck it up and just get it done. I feel like the I need a new tattoo, and it will be worth it in the end. I'll probably feel better, as new tattoos often suit my needs for change.

Today's events were just kind of pissing me off, it was probably the lack of sleep/coffee. So instead of going to do the rest of the things I wanted to do(buy comics/new books) I just went home, had some coffee and lunch, and went to bed. At 8pm I awoke to write this awesome piece of post teen angst, and I will soon go to work yet another overnight. Blow hard.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Off to work!

Yeah! Woo! Let excitement ensue!(That rhymed)

Overnight is sweet
I'm not lying at all, really.
I am so very stoked.

That was a little haiku I wrote. Hope you enjoyed.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

I'll just keep waiting in the cold.

Still haven't turned on heat. Last night Sean and Furman's space heaters cause a fuse to blow, so now we don't even have space heaters. Sweatshirt and a scarf. Who says you cant wear them inside?

I cleaned my room the other day, sort of. It's so clean compared to what it was, but could still use some work. It has become very clear to me that I have far too many books and movies to not have a shelf to rest them on. The same goes for my clothes, the suitcase I have been living out of for the last year just is not cutting it anymore.

Also, just so you know, asparagus rules.
Also, adding feta cheese to anything makes it look like you made a gourmet meal.

I'm getting bored. I need some changes, I'm working on it.
For now tattoos will do. Jeremiah comes back to town in February, also going to try to set something up with Stephanie Tamez, at New York Adorned in Brooklyn, to start some work on my chest.

Word.

Friday, January 2, 2009

I'm pretty sure you're not using that word properly.

I've got some time on my hands. Finally, but hopefully not for too long.

Stories of long goodbyes, and bad decisions.
I get out of work one night, it's chilly out, but nothing to write home about. I zipped my warm enough NorthFace jacket and headed over to Fanelli's Cafe for a beer. I'd say it was 12:15 PM at this point. The bar is packed ass cheek to ass cheek, as usual, but somehow I find a seat at the bar(It might have been because the people I sat next to were French). I only planned on having a couple beers, and being on my way. This, of course, is a hard feat to accomplish in New York City. Right as I'm thinking about thinking I'm ready to go(1:15 or so), my friend from work, James, stops by the bar. Whiskey happens. Then girls. Something I miss about really not caring, James just turns to the girls sitting next to us, say's something mildly innapropriate, and suddenly they are drinking with us. Great, I am once again going to stay out longer(I hate fun, of all sorts[not true]). Anyway, we some how kind of pair off, and Bob the Bartender keeps feeding free beer our way. How could this night get any better(Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing at this point). I'm pretty sure I'm hitting it off with this girl, I don't really remember much of what was said, I remember the other James looked like he was doing pretty well too. We spend what must have been hours talking and having a good time, in a wierd small world kind of way we discover we know some of the same people, well, the girls and James do. I of course pretend to know these people, and not like them. Somehow that worked, and we became those awful people making out at the bar. Like, drunk make out. All of the sudden, maybe around 3, I think I was kissing her neck, the girl stops me, "Whats wrong?" I ask. She looks me dead in the eye, maybe(we were both kind of swaying at this point), and asks "What's my name?"
Uh oh.
It dawned on me at the point that we had never actually been introduced, if names we mentioned at all, I had not cared enough to remember. I burst out laughing, explaining that I truthfully had no idea, and asking if that mattered to her. I think she told me her name, which was once again immediately forgotten, and then she tried to play done with me. It did not work, as she spent the rest of the time at the bar with me, slowly but surely forgetting that I forgot her name. Bob called Last Call. I'd had enough anyway. Got bored and left, if I said goodbye it would surprise me. I have her number in my phone though, I'd call her, but I don't know what her name is. James later informed me that she had asked about me after my departure, she was totally interested.
Couldn't that happen when I do nice things?