..but first

Turkey Day is my favorite Holiday of the year. There's no pressure to do anything the TV tells you to do, and all that matters is food, family and good company. Sit back, eat whatever you find on a counter, stare at the television and watch football teams you'd never otherwise watch..Its all gravy...Literally...

...But first, I get to enjoy the fruits of creative scheduling. For some reason a 6:50 am flight to Florida made a lot of sense. It was cheaper than flying today, and I get most of tomorrow to relax anyway. It doesn't seem too smart right now. Getting to the airport takes on a whole meaning tomorrow morning. According to my schedule, I have to be out of my house before 4:10 AM in order to ensure that I get to the airport by five. That's an aggressive strategy, but I'm hoping to get there no later than 5:15 AM. I'm the kind who likes to get there early so I can relax and watch stressed travelers stand in lines. A winner is me...but still have to get up at precisely the same time I passed out four nights ago.

You're probably reading this after Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoyed it. Did you try the gravy with white rice?

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FreeCell City

I was never really good at this game. When I got my first PC in '97, I skipped the card games and played nothing but pipedream. That progressed to playing Mah Jong. Then came Snood. I still swear by Snood, but today was the FreeCell's day to shine. I could never visualize the cards moving back and forth using the four extra spaces. It just never clicked. I'm the same way with minesweeper. I just can't figure that game out, either. Maybe I'm getting older, but Freecell is getting easier these days. I broke my personal winning streak of one with a string of five games in a row. A winner was me!! I like achieving goals during the workday. Its makes sitting in that cube bearable.

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Just Like 25

I spent more time on the phone today talking to other people than I have in quite a while. I don't feel too much different as a 25 year old..but I do know that if I had a car, my insurance will drop. Since I don't have that, I guess I can count on being thrust more into a life of responsibility and decision making. However, if being twenty five means my phone is going to ring more...then I want back into twenty-four. The calling order went as follows:

Ray - Sang the happy birthday song.
Jay - Tried to sing the happy birthday song.
Former Girlfriend from college - Didn't sing the birthday song, but the call was unexpected.
Mother - Asked about dinner. I had to tear Father away from his vacation packing to say 'Hi'.
Danny E - Another unexpected call, but it's always good to hear from someone with whom you used to start fires with after school.
Shug - We chatted early Sunday morning as well, but both of us only remembered the same small detail about that conversation.

Thank's to all who dropped their wishes! Here's to another year.

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Just like 21

Today feels like the day after I turned 21. An overload of fun...too much fun. Time to go to bed early and ring in my Monday on a fresh step. Let us remember the weekend like we remembered the Alamo.

- I checked out this Film Fest. I've never been to one of these before. It is actually a pretty fun thing to check out once in a while. The films/videos were pretty entertaining. Closing off the night was a viewing of 15 minutes worth of GI Joe PSA's. I don't think I have laughed that hard for such a long time in quite a while.

- I feasted at the Chinese Buffet for lunch yesterday. They seem to have fixed up their selections. Everything was all the more spicy. It seems to me that they adapted their brand of Chinese Food to the core clientele. I have never seen that before in a chinese buffet. All over the country you can find the same tasting shit at any Chinese smorgasbord. I like it when a business can reach their customers with more than standard fare. In conclusion, Chin-exican Food Rulz.

- Friends came to visit my place for the annual birthday hootenanny. It was the largest number of guests I have had over so far, and we weren't that cramped. I even played host and set out chips, cashews, crackers, Kara's delectable cupcakes, bottles of booze, ice, and I even made homemade nachos. Last year, I offered a month-old cookie to Nick and that was it. This was done on the fly because It didn't hit me that it would be more fun to actually have a party until the early evening. So...this is what adults do, eh?

- If you're not careful, 4 AM bartime can be the devil. I was on a good pace to finish off the night at 2am. Once we got past stoppage time, I was a lost cause. We were at the bar until 3:15. On the way out, I stopped, turned around and looked at my group of friends. Everybody was just flat-out staggering. That's either a sign of a damn good night, or we have issues...it was a special occasion, so I'll choose the former.

- I burned a bunch of CD's this weekend. Artists include Ted Leo/RX, The Lawrence Arms, Reggie and the Full Effect, Flaming Lips. This shall make the short-week rotation pretty sweet.

- Those Old Navy commercials just make me want to break stuff. This whole retro-chic thing is getting way old.

- I'm listening to the Secret Machines....You should do the same.

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M(o)ustache Month is over



Yeah, it is gone. I extended M(o)ustache month a few weeks past November 1st by popular demand. It got kind of annoying at the end. I could always feel it there and I looked pretty shitty there at the end. However, I know now that I can grow it back out in only ten short days. As I cut it, it had a few parting words:



"Thank you all for your support! I'm sorry to leave, but it's time to go. I'd like to give a shout out to Jesus and my producer, Eddie, for giving me the chance to see the light of day. I'd like to thank Soup for encouraging me to expand and grow to new heights. I'd like to holler at all those people who avoided sitting next to me on the bus and the friendly folks who avoided eye-contact with me on dark streets...and finally, I'd like to thank you, the fans. I'll be seeing y'all next October...bring ladies with you this time."

- The M(o)ustache

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I Was Supposed to do This More Often

Yeah, I bought that book with the theories. I was supposed to occassionally give you the definition followed by a smart-ass translation. Today, I have nothing good to say, but I'll enlighten you to a random theory that may or may not relate to my day somehow.

Charm Theory - Charm is a quantum number used in the theory of quarks and hadrons. The charm quark has charm +1 and the charm antiquark has charm -1. All other quark flavors have charm 0. The charm of a particle is the number of charmed quarks minus the number of anticharmed quarks.

Translation: Well, I don't really know what a quark is. What the hell are hadrons? Let us just say that you know some cool people (charmed quarks) and you know some people that flat out suck (charm antiquark). You don't really have an opinion about the rest (other quark flavors). Therefore, I'm talking out of my ass by saying that your charm is the number of cool people you know minus the number of assholes you know...and if you have more charm, well, I'm sure those hadrons are affected somehow. Any way you say it, I think my 'charmed quark' count went up today.

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Who is the Drizzle?

It rained all fucking day today. It rained all night last night as well. A rain like that can suck the energy out of you...especially after mid-November. I'd rather it snow. I thought it was tough to sit in a cube when it was nice and summery out. It's probably just me, but it's damn tough to sit in a cube when the weather makes you want to sit on the couch, stare at the grey skies, and do nothing.

I'm missing the Darkness show tomorrow night. After tooting their horn since the album came out in September, I'm missing the first chance I get to see them. Good job, Eddie...way to support the team.

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Half Day, Half boring

I did my duty this morning. I woke up early, ate breakfast for once, and got out to catch the bus 30 minutes early. Did I get to work 30 minutes early? Not at all. I got to work at exactly the same time I usually get there. I wasted 30 decent minutes of sleep. Well, that's okay, becaue the company's computer network was down. I didn't realize how much my job depended on having access to a server sitting in Virginia. We sat around all morning and I played Microsoft Hearts and Freecell. It got to the point where I was actually texting people on my phone and calling friends at work....man, that's pathetic.

The third Matrix movie is entertaining. It's worth the price of admission, but not much more than that. At most, you get to resolve the story. Now you can go back and fill the holes if you care. In the least, you got to see more bad kung-fu. That's all the movie is...a bad kung-fu movie...they just used a few more computers in this movie than they did back in the 70's.

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Hoot? Yes, it was.

See subject. I'm not exactly sure what that phrase exactly means. How can something be a 'hoot?' I will have to consult a dictionary or a book of phrases to get the true meaning; but I digress. Semi-colon misuse notwithstanding, it was good to go home for a whole weekend: whooo!

- My workaholic boss told his wife not to have her baby until next Wednesday because he has a big presentation to give on Monday. He was joking, but at the same time he was 100% serious. Whatever happens, I hope the birth creates a slower week. Its late Sunday evening right now and I still feel like I just left work.

- The Badgers, Bucks, and Packers won their games this weekend. Not a bad weekend to be a Wisconsin sports fan. I'm only casually following the football teams, but I'm dead serious about the Bucks this season. I was glad I got the chance to actually sit down and watch a Bucks game in the comfort of a house. You tend to miss a lot when you're in a sportsbar. I got to soak it all in, and let the football put the cherries on top.

- A Filipino won the Featherweight Boxing title on Saturday. I don't follow boxing at all...but it was cool to see my dad witness a fellow country-man take centerstage for about 8 minutes. My dad looked pretty proud when the guy won...I bet he'll bring it up the next time he chats with a group of his friends (all of his friends are Filipino).

- We put the Christmas lights on at my parent's house. It is way too early for any of this holiday business but it was the only chance the lights would get put up. I have been in charge of putting up the lights at my folk's house every year since I was thirteen (last year excepted). It didn't really hit me until a few years ago that I put up stuff critically judged by the neighbors. I bet my work has been the topic of conversation at dinner tables across my immediate vicinity at least once in the last twelve years. I just realized today that all these years I've been practicing an art, not doing a chore. Whatever the case, suburbanites can be so petty about that shit....and I've been treating that task like taking out the trash. Ha!

- I went to church today and I actually enjoyed it. I haven't been much of a Catholic lately. I have not been religious in the Christian sense since high school. I think I really enjoy going to my old church on Sundays because it has been a family institution. I think its the only thing I do with my parents where we aren't shopping, driving somewhere, eating, or watching television. It's also always fun to go back and see a completely different congregation mixing with the few families who have been there every Sunday since I was born.

- On a short loan, my mother loaned me flannel sheets. They should be warm and cozy. However, the sheets feature a bunch of fall flowers. My mother said she'll swap a more boring pattern with me next week. It doesn't make me any less of a man to be sleeping on a bunch of flannel flowers, right?....right?! I should be fine considering that I won't be 'entertaining' any guests anytime soon.

- I am listening to Turbonegro right now. You should do the same!

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I HOPE YOUR WEEKEND IS/WAS A HOOT!

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The Longest Month in the Week

I awoke this morning and the first thing that popped into my mind was: "It's only Thursday?" This week has felt like a month. I'm not considerably busier than normal between 9-5, nor do I feel overly stressed. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the hint of a cold isn't making anything better. At least I still have Family Ties re-runs to let me know that everything will be just right in the end.

Busting out something creative is something I rarely do...at the same time, I complain about not being able do anything creative (not counting this website, of course). I found a groove with something tonight and it felt good...unfortunately, I'm only halfway through the writing process after casually working on it for the past six hours. I'm either focusing too much and trying too hard, or not focusing enough and I'm too lax...I can't tell.

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A Howler

It is quite windy tonight. This happens during late fall and early spring in my apartment. If I'm sitting in the right spot, I can feel a cold breeze inside my place. If the wind is at the right speed and angle, my windows whistle. If I lie in my bed at a certain angle, I can feel the entire breeze through my body. Yeah, sometimes its fun to feel like you're sleeping in a field when you're actually indoors...no wait...that sucks.

The Brewers are enjoying a little mini-crisis. They are poised to let their fans down one last time. First, they promised that a tax-payer funded stadium would help them stay competitive and keep their future stars. Then they fielded a horrible team in the stadium's opening year. Then, for some reason, they cut their payroll. This was followed by another shitty year. Then they cut their payroll again. So after three years of having a promised goldmine, the Brewers are threatening to have the lowest payroll in the Majors. Something isn't adding up here. The state might get involved, and books could be audited...and the Brewers executive board will have a lot of explaining to do. They may have let me down for the final time.

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Must...Fight...Creepy Feeling

For the past few days between 9-5, I have been the last one to show up and the first one to leave. At first I tried not to be the last one in and first one out, but I realize that this isn't how the game is played at my office. I know they don't care and I'm getting my shit done...so I shouldn't worry. However, I still get that creepy feeling that I'm doing something that I shouldn't be. Whatever if they won't bitch, I won't bow down. In conclusion, I hate sitting in a pod system of cubes and I don't really care for spending eight hours in plain sight and earshot of five other people.

I've noticed that I've lost a few pounds here and there since I ran the marathon. I've been stressed, travelling, and in the process I have had few big meals. These days, it's a cruise to Christmas. The weather is getting shitty, I'll be out and about less and I'll be feasting more. I may or may not begin the home prison workout again. I think I'll take the elevator up, change, do what I usually do to stay in shape when I get home, then get the mail. This trip will feature sixteen flights of stairs down and sixteen flights of stairs back up. Toss in shoulder exercises with the 16 pound bowling balls and I'm on my way. Now, if I could just find some motivation for this....

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Two non-working days in Chicago

No bands, no family commitments, no Girl, nowhere to be for two day straight in the city proper. I haven't had a weekend like this in a long time. Nothing to do and I did everything at my own pace. For a while, I had to force myself to do less...I think I've become to used to busy weekends. Anywho, it feels good to stay in town for once.

- Local business advertisements are always on a different level. It doesn't matter how well they do it, local advertisements can never be as good as national advertisements. Jon and Adam used to complain that Madison, WI had the worst local commercials in the world. You had your Brothers Main, Laugh Lines Comedy club (before it closed), Big Mikes...they were all pretty bad and all had that low-budget, extra cheesy feel. In Chicago, the local commercials all share similar characteristics, too. It seems like every local commercial in this city has the same sounding smooth jazz (really cheesy), soft light filters, and they always try to give you the impression that you're sophisticated enough to use their products. It gets annoying after a while...then I realize that I should just let my ADD take me to another channel during commercial breaks.

- Friday nights at Diversey River Bowl are always a trip. It's not exactly real bowling, but it's a good chance to hone in your concentration skills on the lanes. Then again, after quite a few beers you forget about the smoke and flashing lights. Perhaps I take bowling too seriously.

- Cab Rides, a show, bowling, and expensive drinks have made this weekend one hell of a wallet burner. I think I should get back to being lazy at least one weekend night when I don't travel. Or I could find a lazy and local lady friend.

- I saw a benefit concert in memory of This Person. The show had a different feel for it was in tribute. The crowd didn't seem like concert goers. They seemed more like supporters of fine arts (and family). Actually, I think it was because there were more Asians on stage and in the crowd than in any other concert I've ever attended. Not that I'd point at race as the issue here, but seeing these guys in bands playing shows kind of inspired me to get off my ass and work the music angle more. In two sentences each, here's what the bands had to offer:

- Pete the Genius: A singing drummer with a keyboard. Playing keys in one hand and a simple hi-hat/snare beat in the other while singing is no easy task.
- Mirror America: Asian Rocka-billy. Double guitar solo action.
- Aden: Patient rock. I got a few drinks during this set, used the bathroom, canvassed the crowd....
- Ee: Lead guitarist was pretty amazing. The guy worked arpeggios like a champ and was so accurate in drag-picking chords into blues/folk licks, it actually makes me want to study guitar again.
- Seam: headliner. Patient rockers. The set seemed really emotional. These guys really took in the benefit angle of the night. It was nice to see some good honest rock.

Disclaimer: I may or may not have confused Aden and EE, but that's not because they looked or sounded the same, mind you.

More Three Sentence Therapy:

- I have still yet to see the video footage of the "brains knocked out" moment of last week's 446 show. I think it would be more hilarious if I never saw it while all of my friends have seen it. That would be sweet.

- Domestic Lesson of the weekend: If you don't change your Brita filters in almost a year...your water will taste like shit. You can't blame the sink water after a while. Water is good.

- I'm learning that Jason and I have have a similar upbringing. We both grew up Asian in mainly white cities and our parents are both doctors. It was like Millhouse from Springfield finding Millhouse from Shelbyville...except that in this case I know a lot of other kids who had the same upbringing.

- I still can't watch Chicago sports and root for the local team. I don't think I'll ever grow to like any of these teams. Maybe the Sox....

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I skipped a week, didn't I?

Last week was kind of hectic. I forgot to update you on moustache month. Well, moustache month is officially over...but that doesn't mean I won't keep it around, eh?

Lets take a look at the progression.













Happy fuckin' M(o)ustache Month!

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The Power of Peter

I own the Family Guy DVD's. Yet I still insist on waiting until its 10 or 10:30pm spot on Adult Swim. They basically win twice on that one and I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who does this. If that show ever comes back, I bet it won't be as good...everybody's expectations will be too high. Either way, every episode still cracks me up.

The Bucks won tonight. Brendan, Joel and I went to watch a lot of games last season at a sports bar. We saw many more losses than wins. Tonight was a good way to start the viewing season. We got to see what we expected (Bucks down by 14 in the first half, Alan Houston torching the sucks)...and we got to see what we didn't expect (16 point victory). This will be a fun season to watch.

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Too Lazy to Read Yesterday's Post?

Here is the picture version. I'm too lazy to write something.


Bunnies


Bunnies Outside


Rock


Crowd


Rappin'

Thanks to JP and the BH for some of the above shots

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Bunnies, Basses, Busting Rhymes

Okay, the haze has lifted from the brain and I've processed the weekend, measured the intestines, and ready to deliver a sausage of a post. Woah, did I really end that last sentence like that? Well, whatever...I've learned a lot of lessons this weekend.

WAITING FOR SATURDAY

- Nick is a bit nervous. That's just the way he is. However, driving 90 MPH while looking for your lighter and steering with your knees doesn't exactly leave me relaxed. Drives like that are a fun way to begin an extended weekend. You get out of the car and wonder how you made it in one piece...it makes the rest of the weekend a breeze, actually.

- Plant a seed in my head and it will probably grow. Before I left town, a thought hit me while in the shower. What if I bought a decent sounding fretted bass for the show. My first electric bass is a piece of shit anyway. I'll make it a present to myself for gutting through a three years creative burst of five, count 'em, five original songs. I laughed off the though at first, but at the music store on Friday....I bought myself a little present. Note to self: Don't forget to turn the screws in three weeks.

- Get 8 adults in their early-to-mid 20's to put on bunny suits and see what happens. After being a fork twice, a robot, and a walking pun for Halloween, I joined the group of bunnies. Some people laughed, some idiot complained that we were all guys, and some people thought it was freaky. The best part about the pack of bunnies running around was the fact that we got International students from China to stand us up as a group to take a picture.

- I don't practice much of anything. I barely play my bass, pick up the guitar for probably twenty minutes a week, or even sat down to memorize my own words. I just sit on this and rely only on what talent I have left when it comes to performing music. For the first time in a long time, I actually didn't feel musically prepared. Then I realized that everybody has memorized each other's lyrics and can help out in a pinch. It made me less nervous for the hip-hop portion of the night.

SATURDAY: ROCK

- Big-ass stage set up...big speakers...banners, backstage passes...so this is what it feels like when you're a 'rockstar'. An actual soundcheck/linecheck hours before the headliner? Did I wake up on saturday to find myself in an episode of 3-2-1 Contact where they teach us how a Kiss show is set up? No, it was show day for the big Halloween party.

- Rain doesn't scare crowds away on a big night. People will still show up if a crowd gathers and music is loud. While small at first, as the night went on the crowd slowly grew. However, water and a lot of electricity doesn't seem like a good idea. I guess if no one gets shocked in three hours of rain and music, my odds were pretty small, too.

- Backstage, a show is never without its drama. Nothing ever goes as planned. Luckily, there were 50 cans of Redbull on hand. I'd hate for the night to bore the backstage people to sleep. I don't even know how many of cans were consumed. It was free though.

- Blu-blockers, a cigar, a ratty moustache, and a bunny suit = very sleazy looking guy. Awesome.

- Chicks like dudes on stage. It doesn't matter what you're playing. If it has a beat that they can dance to, they'll eat it all up. In the front rows, all the ladies were eating it all up. What's the deal with that? The stage featured a law student, an engineer, a corporate shill, a bartender, and a computer nerd. There's something about fog, colored lights, and loud music that hypnotizes these ladies to drool. It was surreal.

- Dudes don't mosh to Aerosmith. They've never moshed to our originals. They were moshing at pretty much anything. Again, a surreal sight to a self-depreciating person like myself. At the end of the show, there were a few crowd surges towards the front. For a second there I thought bedlam was going to break out. Then it poured.

- I got hit in the face with a wet Nerf Ball.

EARLY SUNDAY MORNING: HIP-HOP

- Just like at Mifflin, I had to walk from stage to stage. This time, THA 446 show followed Roomservice. I had just enough time to get to the next show. I was able to wallow through the crowds, greet a former neighbor briefly, and shake a few hands in just a few minutes. As I strolled in, the show already started. Note to self: you can't do this anymore.

- Ten bunnies on stage and ten of their friends makes for an interesting sight. I have yet to see the video of this. Towards the end of the show, the crowd and the stage participants may or may not have been the same number.

- I was focused on delivering clear and concise verses. In the studio, you can break it out and in any number of passes, you can get the a clear verse on record. In live practice, you will almost certainly miss something or have a hard time keeping up with the beat. I should have practiced more. However, for a few fleeting moments, the beat moved in slow motion and I felt like I had hours at a time to deliver a line. So that's what it feels like to actually rap.

- The Megaphone on stage was the closest thing we had to a DJ...it was awesome.

- This turned out to be the most fun I've had in a long, long time.

LATE SUNDAY MORNING

- Now I know why rockstars need so much sex after shows. At the end of the night, I was exhausted. However, I was way overstimulated and my mind couldn't relax. The only thing that would have put me to sleep was...well....you know. That was not to be. I lived the day like a rockstar...but at night, it was back to being me. During my time staring at the ceiling and listening to people slam doors and shout things in the hallways, the fire alarm at 4:30 actually soothed me. I needed a constant frequency of some sort to put my mind closer to rest...and that's the kind of night I had.

YEP...THAT'S THE WEEKEND

- I've been good about not worshiping my cell-phone, but without it...I felt lost. That's pretty sad. I need to put the cell-phone down more and live the landline life once in a while.

- Congrats to Shug for getting a job and entering the work-a-day world. Its the best feeling in the world to start something career worthy after months of frustration. For him, the next year will be a blur.

- I step away from the Bucks for two days and they win two in a row in impressive fashion. This happened last season, too. When I don't pay attention, they play well and win. Should I stop paying attention to my favorite team and just pretend like I know what is going on with the Bucks?

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.....

I got two hours of sleep last night. To some people, getting only two hours of sleep would raise an eyebrow and kick in the inner-porn beat. That wasn't the case. The hotel was a zoo with out-of-towners running around in the halls and slamming doors. The fire alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. and it actually helped me get closer to feeling like I could sleep. Nothing like the consistent frequency of an alarm to soothe. Anyway, I'll hold off on saying anything more since I'm a little short on sleep. I just wanted to complain about this morning.

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