Things I noticed today:

- My day goes fast on a full stomach.
- I took my old bus route back to my old neighborhood. I recognized a few faces and those familiar faces all seem to be friends now.
- The lady who cuts my hair has a lot of fun doing that.
- A squad car was the last automobile I expected to almost not see me and stop as I crossed an intersection.
-

The End.

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Week Three





Is this the highlight of your week? I sure hope it's not. Most interesting comment to date: "I see you got the goatee going. You look pretty violent."

The highlight of my week so far: Driving towards Milwaukee at 4:45pm with hopes to surprise my mom on her birthday only to finally get a hold of my dad to learn that they had some Filipino doctor-related seminar to attend. So I turned around and took a long loop home to avoid inbound traffic. Nothing beats driving local from Des Plaines during rush hour. It didn't matter to me. I had the afternoon off from work and the free time could do no wrong.

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Boredom Good

Now that I make conscious efforts to avoid sitting at a computer while I'm not at work, I find time to move a bit slower. The nights seem relatively longer and I don't dread going back to work despite the fact that I'm busy as hell these days. Tonight I felt like I had no obligation to be anywhere. I don't get that feeling very often. So I got happily bored and wound up going to Target to purchase something to hang on a wall.

What I learned at Target:

- My parents shop for a hobby. I never understood why, but I have a theory that it's in their culture as immigrants to enjoy browsing for things they only heard about while growing up. Tonight, I took a slow walk around the store...and a hobby like that still makes no sense. I must dislike shopping too much to get it.

- I almost made an impulse purchase of a discounted Nintendo Gamecube game featuring classic arcade games. For only twenty bucks, I could have worked the machine hard enough to display 4-bit graphics. When I realized that, I walked away.

- Instead, I purchased a Journey DVD. Who could say no to the many faces of Steve Perry for only ten bucks?

So far, the DVD has revealed the following:

- Neil Schon has a gigantic 'fro in "Wheel in the Sky." Gigantic.

- The first half of "Faithfully" shows the band with a case of 'we're lonely on the road.' My brother always jokes about that sort of thing. He always makes light of the fact that these rich rock stars tried to make being a rock star look worse than being depressed and homeless. Then Steve Perry shaves his moustache. Then the video takes it to another level.

- Some band should do a take-off on the video for "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)." There's something about over-the-top camera angle changes and pantomime keyboard playing that would play really well in this day and age. I'm dead serious...maybe.

- I can't watch this all the way through.

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I Weekend I Finally Got Things in Order

You can feel the change of season in the air. Although I'm not as big a fan of fall as I am spring, I like the feeling that change is around the corner. With that feeling, I'm curious to see what comes into focus around this time of year. Fall always seems to be the season where most path-altering occurrences happen in my world. I finally got a weekend in town and I think I've managed to collect my thoughts.

Collected Thoughts about my apartment:
- After finally organizing the 5th room in my apartment, my move feels complete. I no longer dread spending time in the 5th room.
- Now where the hell can I put my music gear?
- I now have two beds. One is a guest bed. I now officially have way more furniture than necessary for a single person to house.

Collected thoughts about my new bed and the new look to the bedroom:
- I don't know why I thought my old bed was comfortable.
- Bed's are damn expensive to outfit. Up to this weekend, my parents supplied my linens. I should have left that arrangement alone.
- The process of lifting a mattress off the box spring to drop the bedskirt is as emasculating as it sounds.
- I have Roth-era Van Halen album CD longboxes hanging above my bed. I basically threw them into a scratched up plastic frame and taped the frame together with electrical tape. I now have the urge to get the six custom framed.

Collected thoughts about my job:
- I brought work home with me and will stay up late working on it. For some reason, I don't consider this unfair.
- Manipulating MS-Excel spreadsheets is the new playing video games.

Collected thoughts about Sports:
- I overheard some conversation at the party last night about the formation of a Huey Lewis tribute band named "Sprots." That's a hilarious concept.
- Did you know that Ray Parker Jr. is now sued the band because they talked about copping the Ghostbusters theme song for "Need a New Drug?" on VH-1? (edited in post)
- I think the discussion about this album in the film American Psycho is the funniest scene in the movie.

Collected thoughts about everything else:
- It doesn't matter how much water you drink before it happens. A collision with planet Jager is still a collision with planet Jager.
- I still enjoy seeing the cubs lose more than I do seeing them win. Am I alone on this one?
- Strikes and gutters.

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Colds and Bruises

Last weekend's allergies turned into a battle against a cold plus the same allergies of this week. Based on my estimations, I have recirculated airplane air to thank. There's nothing like allergic congestion with the aches of a cold. To take my mind off the cold, I treated myself to a nice charley horse courtesy of flag football. It was towards the end of what felt like two pointless 20-minute 'halves' where I found myself defending a pass headed in my direction. The next thing I know bodies were flying everywhere and some dude plowed into my left thigh. The guy hit the ground for a few seconds while I let out a 'whooo!' It looked like I got the best of that. Then the pain hit. Walking has been a challenge ever since. Fun.

On the way home tonight, some high school kids were talking about the night's plans. A kid was complaining that he was going to be the only boy at tonight's party. His two female friends shot back with an explanation that he should be hanging out and that Friday night is supposed to be "date night" where you're obligated to hang out with the opposite sex. I had to laugh because I don't think I've been in either situation since high school.

Now: for some fun links I copped from the new, new WWB:

What's wrong with this image?

Tuesday evening

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Week Two

.

I'm told that I'm starting Moustache Month too early. Whatever. In ten days, it will be a real moustache.

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The Weekend I Went to Texas and Sneezed The Whole Time (Revisited)

It got to the point where the allergy medication only gave me a few moments between sneezes to figure out why I visited Austin, TX. I wanted to see another version of America and I think I got a good taste of it. Whether I was wandering through nature, coasting down an unfamiliar city alone on a bike, or baking in the hot sun I noticed a few things...other than the amount of sweat I can produce...

Things about my trip:

- Public thanks to Casey and Natalie for hosting me. They let me in their nice house and showed me a good time. When Casey decided to move south, a bunch of us wondered 'why?' Now that I saw how they lived their lives, I get it. The couple is genuinely happy as can be right now and the city is currently a perfect fit for them. Go team.

- Another public thanks to Ben and Gretchen for spending time with an almost-stranger. Gretchen is a kind person and Ben is a nice guy knows exactly what I mean when I say "standdown." Oops...I've said too much. They're a great pair and I'm glad they ran into my hosts when they did.

- Not only does Austin seem like a gigantic version of Madison, WI (capital building, big university, tolerance for fat people, liberals and texans combining)...it also features some interesting geology. I didn't quite listen 100% to what Casey told me about the lay of the land...but what I did notice is that the river and creeks sure created some fun terrain.

- The city always lets you know which watershed area you are in. For some reason, I found that to be really cool. It's nice to know exactly where your engine oil goes every three thousand miles. Just kidding....Seriously.

- Austin is as Pro-Bush as it is Pro-Kerry. At the same time, I didn't get the sense that there was tension in the air. I got the feeling that no matter who wins the election...Austin will still be one happy place...but that's from a tourist's point of view. So don't trust me.

- One morning, we hiked down one of these geological fun zones and made our way to what was to be a natural pool formed underneath a waterfall in a creek. Unfortunately, the creek was mostly dry and we got a minnow filled pool consisting of leftover creek and rainwater. None of that mattered. I was still floored that this was mere minutes from the city center. Where's nature in this city?

Things about the Fest:

- Over three baking-hot afternoon/early evenings, I saw at least one song from the following (in order): Sloan, Patty Griffin, Broken Social Scene, Toots & the Maytals, Rebirth Brass band, Franz Ferdinand, Sheryl Crow, Josh Rouse, Old 97's, Howie Day, The Gourds, Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket, Los Amigos Invibles, Trey Anastasio, G. Love & that guy, The Pixies, Ben Kweller, Elvis Costellor & the Impostors, Wilco, Cake, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Ben Harper.

- That is a lot of fuckin' music. There was quite a crowd of people to watch. I still can't walk around without making sure that I don't step on anyone...and the fest has been over for two days.

- Most of the crowd was of college age. I notice that tennis skirts are all the rage with the lovelies in Texas. Where was that when I was in college? All we saw were puffy coats in the winter and clam diggers in the summer. Lame.

- With there being so much heat, I didn't get drunk once. I was too busy drinking water. The one thing I wanted to avoid was dehydration or heatstroke. Part of this plan was to stay away from carbonated beverages. I think I pulled it off and learned something about avoiding soda and alcohol. You body will actually feel better when the weekend is over. How about that?

- Either people were being too standoffish to make friends...or I was being too standoffish to make new friends...or my moustache scared people off...hmmmm...

Moments to Mention:

- Broken Social Scene played a great show. The audience probably numbered over twenty thousand. It turns out the band was hyped by the local media quite a bit as the next big thing. When I turned to Casey and said: "Last year, I had to order their album out of Canada because it wasn't released here yet...now look at this crowd," I felt like an asshole music snob. So that's how it feels....wierd.

- Before Modest Mouse played, people by the thousands crowded the stage area in anticipation of a great show. When the show started, I walked through the crowd to people-watch and to find a breeze. As soon as the band started, you could feel the wave of disappointment of the fans who expected forty-five minutes of that one hit. Comments included: "It's a damn shame they don't sound like their CD." and "Why do people like them so much? They Suck!!" With a smirk, I thought to myself: "Bobby Smiley begs to differ."

- Sheryl Crow can't play bass, and is limited to being just a pretty face on the stage. That's kind of sad. She was a musician fisrt. The locals are disappointed in her not being able to handle the pressure of the romantic connection with Lance Armstrong. From my perspective that observation makes no sense, but I do like how the big cities in the south share public gossip. Face to face communication is still alive these days.

- Before Wilco played, our group was crammed into a crowded pocket of annoying fans. Most of these fans seemed to be the classic 'hey-dude' and 'like, you know?' types. I assumed that they were just camping out a few hours early for the Ben Harper show. Even Jeff Tweedy made a comment about how all the fans looked young. I was wrong. They still loved the music and probably enjoyed the show as much as...well, my friends would have. Looks, they did deceive me.

You know what? I don't think I get out enough.

Pictures

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The Weekend I Went to Texas and Sneezed The Whole Time

...more on that tomorrow, for I am still on vacation. In the meantime, I'll fulfill a promise and post my pictures from the trip to New Orleans way, way back in June.

The City
The Weeding

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Fly Away Day II



The first submission to Monday's 'title-graphic to an adult-type public access show' contest (see Monday). It's not really a contest, but go ahead and submit one if you'd like. Courtesy of Sleeve, welcome to a special "Night Moves" edition of this web log. Wait, this graphic could come in handy in the future. Hmmmm...

The second annual weekend where I visit a new city starts tomorrow. I will wind up in the capital of Texas to visit Casey and his lovely wife Natalie. Back in high school, I got the feeling that Casey and I were the 'non-nerd-therefore-perceived-as-popular' members of the high school band. During our senior year we were seated next to each other and killed the idle time developing nicknames for pretty much every remotely-cute girl in the class. Since those years, I've hung out with Casey maybe once a year for only a short time and I barely knew his wife before their wedding (and then I met her entire family). Still, the man granted me the privilege of standing up in his wedding and the guy listens to Yes. Goods times will be had getting to know the 2004 versions of my close friends. I'm totally looking forward to this visit.

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Return of Son of Moustache Month


Week 1 (day five)

It is that time of year again. I see no other reason to keep shaving in the morning. In the past three years of sporting the occassional moustache, I've learned that: (1) my tips went up during my server days; (2) My baby niece still looks for the Moustache I had last winter; (3) For some reason, my luck with the ladies is directly proportional to the amount of moustache on my face; and not to be forgotten; (4) October is Moustache Month. Like a new fall season of primetime watching, the m(o)ustache progression begins anew. Welcome to the new, new Wednesday.

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Web Log Time Stamp: Current Events

A third hurricane in less than a month is about to hit Florida. The President is getting attacked on his National Guard Service duty. The Marlins are playing home games in Chicago. There is escalating violence in Iraq despite the fact that 'major combat' was declared over months ago. A 'Cannonball run' race gets thwarted in Italy. Alan Keyes is going to fire shots at everything while he still has peoples' attention. Oprah gave away free cars to her audience. A Texas Rangers reliever threw a chair into the crowd watching baseball in Oakland. Bomb-sniffing dogs delay my daily commute on the train these days.

Let's all read this a few years down the line and think to ourselves: "Two Thousand Four...What a time to be alive!"

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Another Amazingly Lame Discovery

Perhaps I knew this already, but after about twenty three years of seeing these plants around me I finally noticed that the plant's leaves resemble the legs of a spider. I glanced at the thing in its new location and it finally hit me. So I took a picture of it:



...and then I thought to myself...I wonder if I can create something that looks 1980's-era cheezy with the lighting in my apartment.



I bet an adult-type public access show would use this image...all I need is a bad font and somebody who has a public access show.

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Things Running Through My Head Tonight:

- I need to stop making chronological posts...starting...now.

- I found a dead moth in my bathtub tonight. I'm not superstitious, but I bet that's some sort of a sign.

- Sitting around the house all weekend long leaves me with a stiff neck. The furniture slants are starting to get to me.

- Taking a stroller through a cramped and quiet restaurant is very disruptive. It's amazing how a man's mind works when he's very hungry.

- After cutting a deal with the mattress salesman today, I innocently mentioned that he had to stay in and sell beds instead of watching football. I probably shouldn't have done that.

- Watching weekend evening traffic on the porch never gets old. It's always a show. Except for the part where a girl on a bike almost got hit by a car.

- The Debut is at some points terrible, in some scenes way too exaggerated, and in other points, way too real. My white friends would demand money if I made them watch this.

- I think I'll wear a tie tomorrow.

- Nothing and everything was accomplised this weekend. Let's keep this up.

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Random Snippets of Personal E-mails Received Today

Used without permission and save the first item, I yanked these in reverse chronological order, of course:

"hello?"

"You have received a Friendster message"

"In fact when I hung up I thought I was talking to a guy named Art (I do know an Art but didn't think he had my number) but Art sure sounded like Ed L-"

"told her that i had passed her-"

"here in Aalborg and I'm trying to get through by living vicariously through my friends..."

"Fuck the A's, dude."

"from the Trib"

"glad i wasnt there cuz i may have jumped on the field and strangled his no talent ass."

"So what you're saying is......you're a good asshole"

"How about some of those wacky stories in the news today? Puppy shoots man? Man throws lit road flare into toll basket? Lincoln Park zoo worker attacked by lion? Perhaps today will be more fun than I anticipated."

"AHaHaHA Millbot."

"I don't know what that means"

"tonsils are inflamed"

"complaining about their throats - I think it's all a matter of time."

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The Weekend as Reported on the West Wash Blog

As much as I hate posts that run off moments in chronological order...this one is probably worthy of publishing on here. With a little editing, here we go:

Thursday night Shug and I made our way to Madison during rush hour. The evening started on West side where we met up with Shug's crew buddies. After Jon popped a few headache pills we made our way to downtown. We started at a basement bar where the bouncer chided us for not bringing the ladies. I thought he bitched at us for not having a lighter. I spent a few moments searching my pockets before shrugging my shoulders and walking away. After a pitcher, we spent the rest of the night at another bar where the underage ladies walked around in circles. I sat in one place and made fun of everybody with one lil' Cook. I got to sleep a lot later than I wanted to...but I'll live.

Friday we made our way for the seven hour trip to Marshall, MN. At 10:30pm, my phone was dead while Shug's phone was on its last legs. That's when we found out that the way from the interstate to Marshall featured the detour. Shug commented "we are definitely in the cuts." As soon as we got to town, we were taken to one of the four (4) Marshall bars for beer, pull-tabs, and the sight of pregnant ladies paying for their drinks with checks.

Saturday I woke up and was told to 'fire up!' by the father of the groom. After shaking off the cobwebs, we set up the chairs in the bride's folk's backyard. The Bride's dad innocently said: "Wow, its' hot today...I hope it gets cloudy and rains tomorrow." Two hours later, we were making our way around the house to backyard when I heard somebody singing. I stopped in my tracks and let out a "uhhhhhh..." before realizing that it was Jacob's dad crooning away. The rehearsal went without a hitch and Shug took copious notes on what the ushers should be doing. At the rehearsal dinner, both families got together in one place for roast beef, turkey, pasta salad, and a touching speech by Jacob's dad where he brought out a transformer and said something like: "Jacob transformed from a boy into a student, a skateboarder, a snowboarder, a writer, a journalist...etc. etc" Jacob shouted: "what about the time you transformed me out of being a juror?" After the rehersal dinner I stopped into Stanger and Tyler's hotel room where the first question asked was: "WHERE ARE WE?!" Eventually people got to a friend's farm where beer was sipped, fireworks where shot, and people played in the dark cornfields. For some reason, I played a game of one-on-one basketball at midnight.

Sunday was the big day. Jacob, Wendy's brother, Jon and I spent the final moments before the wedding drinking Grain Belt while shooting pool and admiring the Alan Kulwicki memorabilia in the basement. The rain held off and the wedding went off as planned in a picturesque backyard. At the beginning of the wedding a gigantic hawk flew overhead and the Official of the ceremony talked about the hawk as a sign of good luck and fortune. As soon as the wedding party began escorting themselves off the premises, it started to rain again. The Bride's step-dad got his wish with the rain and I got to drive his '89 Mustang GT to the hotel. I guess the tradition is for each bridal party to "steal the bride or groom." Wendy's brother suggested the American Legion. Once there the group of drunks all saluted wendy and one guy was being extra creepy by saying things like "i saw your picture in the newspaper" and "you are very, very pretty."

We got back to the reception with a shot of tequila and two beers under our belts. The boisterous Chicago crew were already drowning in beer and champagne. Dinner was consumed and I gave a little speech. My goal was to start strong and finish on a solid note. I think I pulled it off. After a few more speeches, Shug made his now infamous comment about how "unlike the sadness Jacob showed when we graduated college, Jacob will always be excited for the marriage and will never graduate from Wendy...she is the easiest college class he'll ever have to take." Chicago folks rorared in response. Once the dance started, all bets were off. Plenty of prince was played, drinks were sipped, and Tyler fell backwards off his wheelchair only once. Quinn and I concluded that there were no single and available attendees at the wedding and proceeded to continue the ride into debauchery. The hour of karaoke went off well. Steve and CJ went into the DangerZone and Jake's friend's little brother ("showtime Eric") put on a crazy rendition of the Darkness's "I believe in a thing called love." The rest of the night got a little blurry and nothing else noteworthy happened. A lot of Prince was played, and Stanger hooked up with the flautist.

Then we made the 10000 hour drive back.

The end.

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Another 1,200 Miles

I should be asleep. It's been a long weekend. I woke up this morning in a hotel room to the noise of a cell-phone stuck in a high pitch hum while I cursed having only one earplug. Tonight I'm going to take a little extra time to get to work. Could travel be wearing me down? Perhaps. Let us get this out while things are still fresh in my head.

By choice and by necessity, half of the latest roadtrip took place on US highways. Without billboards telling you what to think, you may notice that nature exists along the road. Seeing the country in this manner makes the trip much more pleasant. The slowdowns in small towns are worth it.

Shug and I made a return visit to our alma mater four nights ago. That events of that evening feel as if they happened last month.

- I think I learned the following things in Capital City (Wisko):
(1) The city has changed to the point where I don't feel like I used to live there. It's just a place where I know where everything is.
(2) Women hate each other and will fight until 4am over petty things such as talking about somebody behind her back to somebody who has no business talking about such things because she has no right to feel that she should talk about something she doesn't know anything about.
(3) The seemingly Christian rapper on Library ball proclaims: "I celebrate life!...Aaight?!" You should do the same.

Marshall, Minnesota is far, far away.

- I think I learned the following things in the city of 20,000 strong:
(1) A city that consists of two strip-mall drags and a tiny city-center can indeed produce some pretty cool people.
(2) When two men are picking out flowers in the walk-in flower cooler at the grocery store, high school girls will giggle, knock on the window and run away.
(3) Cornfields and gravel roads provide plenty of entertainment at night to city dwellers. Some where scared, some where intrigued, I...misplaced an article of clothing.

After participating and witnessing the marriage of another very close friend, my 'desire to get married anytime soon' rating stands at 0.0. They're dropping like flies around me. Weddings, eh? Stay tuned...

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...getaway day

In honor of back-to-school, let's take a look at how much Seniors Rule!

The six-thousandth roadtrip of the summer begins today. Get ready.

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Worse That Sitting in My Cube

So I'm half-listening to a required presentation and I hear: "for the next four hours, I'm going to be talking about two things: "respect" and "dignity." This was after spending half an hour repeatedly hearing about what 'risk management really is.' Three hours later we get to the point of the speech: Sexual harassment is bad. I thought last year's video presentation of an early 90's production titled 'Sexual Harassment in the Workplace : No Means No' was torture. This was even worse...but it worked. I am now programmed to use common sense when dealing with sex and the workplace. Nothing beats forced lessons on common sense.

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