Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Derek's LiveJournal:

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Sunday, October 1st, 2006
8:57 am	Gone Away I am off to Tampa, FL until next Saturday. I'm flying out there for work (my first official business trip...oooh). Mixed feelings about it right now...but should be interesting. Call me in the evenings to help me cope with my lonesomeness... Speaking of that...I'm looking for a wife. Any takers? Very serious here. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, September 23rd, 2006
11:10 pm	Additional Note for Gamers Currently I'm in the middle of wrapping up the Xenosaga series. This feels like winding down in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Characters you've become familiar with over the past few years and now their story is almost over. Its a fun and necessary escape. Strangley, I'm not as excited about Final Fantasy XII as I expected to be. Lastly...I ordered a new computer from cyberpowerpc.com...should be coming in shortly. Hmmm...lets go check the tracking page.... ...searching... Expected to ship 9/29...Good times. Current Mood: nerdy Current Music: Still Athlete (Comment on this)
10:57 pm	Ohhh...Its Hot in Here, Must be Something in the Atmosphere Another quiet/tired/rainy/lonely/not lonely/happy Saturday wrapping up. Work is crazy. The kind of stuff that makes your head hurt when you come home. The kind of stuff that makes you want to lay in bed the minute you walk home. Not a fan right now. Otherwise, the biggest news at the moment is that I have reduced my drinking by quite a bit. There was a night of insane drinking about 2 months ago. I had a great time that night (and a GREAT tab) but the next day(s) was(were) pretty awful. I had that cliché reflective moment where I said, "I'm not doing that again for a while" and I've stuck to it. I have definitely enjoyed a couple drinks since then...but I haven't had more than 2 drinks in a night since then. Even when I went to Pub Crawl in Bloomington I was able to hold back. We were out from about 5pm to 12am and I only had a couple. I'm really enjoying myself being sober. Even played a few shows and made a note to have even a drop of alcohol. It felt good. It feels strange to be writing about not drinking anymore. Folks that have known me since high school know that alcohol has never played much of a role in my life until the past couple years. I think it started when I would go out to Lunkers every Wednesday night while I lived in Bloomington. From there I started drinking more when playing gigs and just going out more on weekends. I imagine that this is a phase...I'm sure I've got a few more drunk nights ahead of me. But right now, I like not really knowing or caring when that next night will be. Its funny too...not drinking has spared some potentially awkward situations when going out with people (read: girls) from work. Its a blessing in the long run...but I sadly must admit a few moments thinking, "I wish I was drunk enough to lose some inhibitions right now..." Is there hope? Current Mood: calm Current Music: "Vehicles and Animals" - Athlete (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, August 25th, 2006
8:04 am	Our Own Neon Ballroom Not continuing the Lollapalooza journal entry...not yet at least. Just a quick update on how things are going. Been training a new class at work all this week. Its been a lot of fun as the group is 14 women ranging from a 19 year old black college student to a 50 something German with a strong accent and a story for everything. I went to Minnesota last weekend to visit my friend, John. I drove up there with my friend, Tiffany, from Bloomington. Within a couple hours I realized that our personalities were most definitely going to collide before the weekend was up. There was plenty of things to do though...to keep us from brawling. We went to the Mall of America and a Twins vs. White Sox game on Friday. Saturday we went boating. I am strangley bothered by the term "boating." It does work as a very convenient word to condense all sorts of activities like swimming, tubing, wake-boarding, chilling on the boat, etc...but it might just be the way my friend Tiffany said it. Everything was "boating, boating, boating..." "I can't wait to go boating..." "Hey, while we're boating can we..." "I've been boating before but it was..." "Since you moved up here, do you go boating often? Or do you only go boating when..." Its like bragging about having a friend in prison...you're associating yourself with something that isn't even about you at all. Then again...its nothing like that at all. Per a recommendation from Bryan, I bought a couple Chuck Palahniuk books. I bought Fight Club (yeah...obvious) and Survivor. I finished Fight Club and am working on Survivor...its really great. It reminds me of a slightly darker version of David Eggers. I'll probably pick up more or all of his books depending on how Survivor pans out. Current Mood: okay Current Music: Happiness Is a Warm Pun - Super Furry Animals (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 10th, 2006
4:30 pm	Lollapalooza Fun I wanted to put up a little run-down of how Lollapalooza went for any curious souls, but mostly so I had it documented somewhere. Its always nice to look back on things like this to re-remember the little details that make the times so good. I went to the festival with Brittney. It was great to go with someone who has similar music tastes. Plus, I trusted her enough to go check out some bands I hadn't heard of before. A couple of her recommendations (the Dresden Dolls and Make Your Own Pet) turned out to be two of my favorite bands there. Friday we saw: The Subways Auqulung eels Jeremy Enigk Ryan Adams Mates of State Secret Machines The Raconteurs Violent Femmes Ween The highlights were definitely the Subways and Mates of State. I don't know anything more than the singles by the Subways, but Justin (the lead singer of Anita) is a big fan. On top of having an exceptionally cute bass player, the songs were all real easy to get into and the energy of the show was electrifying (I couldn't resist saying it...sorry). The place wasn't overly crowded yet, so it was nice to see the first few bands in a fairly small crowd. Auqulung was pretty dull. We ended up leaving their set early to grab a bite to eat. The music seemed alright, it was just very slow and too mellow of a vibe after the excitement the Subways brought (remember...? They were electrifying...) eels were super cool. Not at all what I expected at first. The first half of their set was all straight up rock. I was expecting a more mellow, trippy rock show...which they melded into towards the end of their set. After their set we met up with Greg, Ashley, Nate, Holly, Sam, and Leticia. Good times. Ryan Adams was probably the biggest disappointment of the entire weekend. I was really looking forward to finally catching him live. The set started with some mellower tunes...not all that great of songs either. Then between songs he started talking about how Chicago is the only place where you can break eggs after 11pm. It was humorous at first...but he kept going for about 6-7 minutes. It was getting quite uncomfortable as almost everyone in the crowd was looking at each other thinking, "what the hell is this guy talking about." With interruptions at work, this was as far as I could get. I'll have to complete more later. Current Mood: blah (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, June 30th, 2006
7:11 pm	Its so Simple in the Moonlight I did not accept the job in Tampa. I put a lot of thought into the idea over the weekend and got some excellent feedback from friends regarding the situation. I don't like turning down an idea like this...but I don't want to throw away some of the good things I have going for me in Chicago. The biggest thing keeping me here is probably the band. It feels like I've finally found the right folks that are willing to put the effort into making this thing work. By making it work I don't mean becoming famous or having multi-platinum albums. Its all about just being able to make this thing your life for a while and to walk away from it feeling accomplished and happy. I really don't know what I plan to gain from all this, but I know I'm having a good time while I'm doing it. Current Mood: tired Current Music: "Luna" - Bright Eyes (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 22nd, 2006
10:33 pm	Angry Like Salmon Need some quick venting... My manager offered me a job in Tampa, Florida today. Offered to increase salary, help me find a place to live, etc...because they really need some more support in our other office. Its an exciting offer, but the more I think about it...I don't think I'd do it. I get to tell them what I want on Monday. If I didn't have this band, I think I'd do it in a second...it would just be something exciting and new. This just seems like one of those points in life where you end up regretting something. If I go to Florida, sure I'll be making a lot more money...but where will my friends be? And what might have happened with that little band I played with? hmmmm.... I'd rather be touring the country in a shitty van eating soup from can than live in a fancy apartment in Tampa, Florida making good money. Where is the fun in that? What good life stories could come from that? So my mind is all wrapped around that. And now my roommate is pissing me off. She came home about 40 minutes ago and asked me to go out. She was with a friend from work and I agreed to go. Foolish me, I did not ask who might be waiting at the bar... (sub point) My first new hire training class starts tomorrow. A good chunk of management will be there for orientation. I must be fresh...no hang overs. (/sub point) ...because I'm just expecting a mellow night. As we get to the train station I find out some corporate folks from their work will be there along with a few others. They also hint that the night probably won't end until quite late (which is usually fine, but see sub point). As the train arrives, I decide to go back home. I explain my reasoning and head off. Roommate calls me 5 minutes later telling me I'm crazy or a fool or something...Instead of explaining myself again, I just said I was glad to escort them both safely to the train stop (them being 2 girls). She hung up on me. That didn't make me happy. So now I'm venting. The End. Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: Motion City Soundtrack - Every Single Song (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 19th, 2006
2:40 pm	Happiness in Magazines Tra la la la...making time for LJ... I've got some time between monitoring calls so I thought I would use it efficiently... Ya know, I love the feeling of seeing someone for the first time in years and jumping right into conversation like you just saw them yesterday. Live journals and online blogs certainly help this along by being able to keep tabs on a person and their activities, but it takes a bit more than that to be able to bypass all the boring small talk and gently easing into conversation. You almost feel like you're on another plane of reality when you talk with folks like this. I like these moments because it helps me forget about daily nonsense like traffic and bills and training agendas. I'm excited because I may have found a roommate to take Dan's place. Yesterday at the family gathering I was chatting with my cousin's girlfriend (of 2-3 years) and she mentioned looking to move to Chicago. I started explaining that I was looking for a roommate and I told her all about our place. I think my cousin was a little weirded out by the idea at first, but then realized this was a better option than her continuing to search online for a random roommate. Hopefully she can make it out to the place sometime this week to take a look at it. I think once she sees the place she will want to live here...though its hard to say...she seems pretty shy and is kind of hard to read. I almost regret to say it, but I'm really getting into the Wheel of Time series. My mother along with several friends have recommended it. I'm only about half-way through book 1, but its really great. Its an adventure/fantasy series similar to Lord of the Rings in style. So much stuff going on...I don't have a lot of time to read it (mostly just on the train and during lunch breaks) but it seems like there is always a lot of plot movement. Good times. Current Mood: content Current Music: "Spectacular" - Graham Coxon (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 4th, 2006
6:49 pm	As If I Really Knew How is this world? The world where my thoughts are seen and not just swirling aimlessly? Lets find out... Lots of good things happening...lots of interesting things happening. Work has become a lot more intense. I started working officially as a trainer about 3 weeks ago (though my paycheck isn't up to the "official" change yet) and its been pretty crazy. I ran a 2 week class for some of our reps here. Last week was mostly developing an action plan for the next few months as there is a lot of training to be done. I'm actually in the office for just a couple hours tonight to make sure my agendas are all set for next week. Having a serious job like this is really funny to me. I like to think that I take it seriously, but not to any major extent. Sure, I'm out here on one of my days off, but its not like I feel forced and its not that this job is taking up my life. I like to work at my own pace and the pace during the week is insane. Coming in on a Sunday is relaxing...work can be done casually and therefore a bit higher in quality. I guess I'm basically saying that I used to laugh at the kind of person who would say they are creating agendas and updating certifications on a Sunday night. But I like being that person along with being the kind of person who: 1) Will drink half finished wine glasses left sitting next to him at a bar. 2) Will stay up until 3:30am playing World of Warcraft while drinking home made whiskey and cokes. 3) Will justify that he is not drinking alone in the above situations because he is playing with other people online who say they are drinking too... 4) Will pick up a skateboard for the first time in 10 years and then attempt to go up and down ramps without the aid of padding. So as mentioned in the notes above, I have been sucked into a life of World of Warcraft. As if I didn't have enough going on...my friends have brought me into this open-ended game where you can spend hours and hours of your life exploring worlds and meeting new people. Well, you can look at it as a social experience, or as a person staring at a computer screen when they could be performing acts of contribution to society or their own life. I like to provide a little justification that its better than my roommate who spends 4-6 hours a day just watching television. I'm interacting with people...does that make it ok? Please? I really need this... Its also sad that this time playing computer games is taking away from time I could be keeping up with friends (through emails, phone calls...live journals). I'm definitely drifting away from some friends since I moved to Chicago. It could be viewed as kind of a cleansing process (that's the nice way of saying it, right?) or it could be viewed as laziness. There are exceptions...friends like Bryan whose friendship doesn't require steady maintenance. We both respect our lives being busy, and know that we're not able to talk as much as we used to. Though it really...REALLY takes a toll on me when I know I'd probably be in a much better place if he were around more often. There are a limited number of people whose opinion I respect no matter how much it differs from my own. I haven't met too many folks like that up here yet, though I can't say I've met too many people outside of work. Well...I just got distracted by talking to some folks here at work...so now I'm not sure where I was going with everything. Feels like a good stopping point. Time to walk home. Current Mood: busy Current Music: "Concepts of California" - Theory of Brides (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 14th, 2006
9:49 am	Some Day You Just Might Thank Me Things are happening. Things are happening. So...we'll jump around. I went to my first rugby game this past Sunday. I was at the Southside St. Patrick's Day parade with my roommates and two other folks. The parade was pretty dull (as parades tend to be) and the weather that seemed to be dropping in temperature by the minute wasn't helping. However...the rugby game we watched afterwards was well worth the trip. Since Dan plays rugby, I had a bit of background knowledge going into it. He was also patient enough to answer my questions as we went through the game. Luckily, we were with a group of 3 other girls who had not witnessed a rugby game before either. They went ahead and asked the questions I was too embarassed to ask. I believe I want to incorporate rugby into my movie. One of the characters is perhaps a rugby player or I at least want some rugby action going on in the background. I can visualize some rugby being played in slow motion while a really nice acoustic song is playing over the top. Yeah, it's probably been done before...but I was listening to this song by Athlete last night while I was writing down the rugby idea and it just seemed like the perfect fit. I wonder how hard it would be to get the rights for a song to have it in my movie. As of right now...I think I'm just going to have a bunch of friends write music to be used. I've already picked out a couple tunes (one being from the Lonely Metropolitans) and I get excited about thinking of the rest of the soundtrack. I figure if I really need a song but can't get the rights, I'll work with some friends in writing and recording a song with a similar feel. As a band we've been playing some shows and got some play on Q101 which was exciting. We're going out at least once a week to a couple clubs and handing out CD's and talking to club owners about booking shows. Things are moving along pretty nicely. We're talking about doing a tour around the area this summer/fall. We would play the surrounding cities like Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cincinnati...etc. There is a gentleman from Koch entertainment that is a friend of Mike's who is going to help book us around. He apparently is working with some larger places here in Chicago like the Double Door and the Metro to get us on those stages. I'm reading this great book by David Eggers called "You Shall Know Our Velocity." .... I was going to explain the book but I am signing off. Perhaps I'll say more later. Current Mood: okay Current Music: "Aphids" - HUM (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, February 11th, 2006
4:37 pm	Too Much of Nothing is Just as Tough First show with Anita was last night. Delicously good times were had. We didn't make it to the next round, which is kind of sad, but we weren't really expecting to do much in the competition. A couple of the bands we played with were pretty excellent, but my favorite didn't even make it...sad. We made some good connections though and got some future gig partners out of it. Looking at the results, it turns out that were only 3 votes away from making it to the next round (The voting system consists of people raising their hand if they feel the band they just watched should advance to the next round). It seems that a lot of people were just voting for the band they came to watch...which I suppose makes sense, but I think every good band deserves a chance. I voted for 3 other bands last night (none of which made it to the next round either). But it felt good to be back on stage again playing original music. I partied it up at the venue afterwards with my friend Jorge from work and Katie who is a friend I met through my last roommate. It was a blast hanging out with her and her girlfriend, along with her two 30 and 40 something friends. I believe I had more to say, but its time to clock out and go home. Current Mood: happy Current Music: "Roses In Water" - Sunny Day Real Estate (Comment on this)
Saturday, February 4th, 2006
7:34 am	Because Mutiny on the Bounty's What We're All About I'd like to start this post with an amusing story... Band practice with Anita is usually a very productive time. We run through our set a few times, then focus on the songs that we feel need a little fine tuning. To keep things fresh we occasionally break into a spontaneous jam based on a catchy little riff or chord progression that one of us is goofing around with. On Thursday we happened to start playing a song that was very surfy and really only included the words: "Playing that song / Its on the jukebox" Being repeated over and over again. The way Mike was singing it was equally hilarious...so you probably had to be there. So we're leaving practice and this guy approaches Mike and Jason. Basically says: "Hey guys...I'm involved with this extreme sports group and we put together videos a lot for promotion and stuff. Bong! I happened to walk by your rehearsal space and thought your surf-rock sound would be perfect for one of our videos. Allow me to give you my card. Wack-a-tah-zoo!" (a couple exclamations addded for my personal amusement) We found this to be hilarious...our sound is not quite surf rock, but maybe we could record the "Jukebox" song just for them. The card seemed legitimate. Some exciting news is that Q101 is going to be playing us on the radio this Sunday between 10pm and 11pm. That's during the Local 101 time spot. They actually found us on Myspace and said they really dug the tunes. If you're in the Chicago-land area, be sure to check out 101.1 between 10pm and 11pm. We also had a fun outing as a band on Wednesday. We went to a club called The Mutiny to book a show. We did some lying...talking about having a bit of a following and that we've played a few shows around the city. I mean...come on...we've all got quite a few shows under our belt. Is it really that important that we haven't played live together yet or even in this city? Nah...hells naw. They booked us for Feb 17th...short notice because a band cancelled that night. The other band that's playing is called Post Human Waste. The bartender could only tell us that they were comparative to Gwar when we asked what kind of band they were. Should be interesting. Jen is spending some more time in the city which is nice. She got back from Idaho late Thursday so she stopped over. It felt like it had been so long since I last saw her when it had only been a little over a week. Funny how that feels sometimes. She's gonna be in Chicago/suburbs until Tuesday so we'll try to put in some quality time. I'm working all the days she's here until around 7 though. Blah. Plus tonight we're going to be laying down some drum tracks so I'll probably show up to play some scratch guitar. And the times are good. Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: "Too Much" - Spice Girls (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, January 29th, 2006
2:37 pm	"I Will" I came across this a few weeks ago while looking up the meaning of the word, "Chicago" (which translates a few different ways, but primarily you'll see it translate to "wild onion"). I found this figure to be amusing, but I kind of like the idea behind it: The "I Will" figure is a conception of strength, vitality and heroism. It stands youthful, energetic and bold, and its poise suggests the combination of steadfastness and progress that has made Chicago the wonder city of the world. The expression of the features, the forehead and the farseeing eyes is a token of the brain and mentality behind the intellectual and material development of the city. More details here. ********************************************** I think I should try to go as the "I Will" figure for Halloween this year. Think I'll remember? Yeah...I don't think so either. Hopefully I'll be in one of those moods around mid-September where I want to go back and review old LJ posts and have this fond memory jolted back into my head. City life is going swell. Working lots of overtime hours so the days are very much blending. I have all intentions of going into the rehearsal space to work on recording some tunes but find myself putting forth a large effort to even make dinner. I'll maybe play a few tunes on Guitar Hero and call it a night. Friday night I was actually in bed by 9:00pm. Blah. Have an idea for the film I want to create. I like working through the details as I walk to/from work. Though I hate that every idea reminds me of a movie I've previously seen...or at least I think it is too similar. But looking back it seems that most movies are pretty similar to pre-existing plots anyway. Is it even possible to be completely original anymore? It doesn't seem that way. Ok...really, I'm just posting because I'm bored. This day is going quite slowly. Current Mood: bored Current Music: "Our Time Has Come" - The Nailbiters Reunion Death Show (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, January 20th, 2006
7:58 am	Schooled By Satan I had one of those classic waking-up-late-for-work mornings today. Your body never seems to have you wake up a couple minutes before your start time or even 20 minutes after you should have started. You always seem to wake up with just enough time that you could actually make it if you abbreviate/eliminate all or most of your morning activities. I vaguely remember fumbling around my alarm clock and possibly shutting it off thinking it was some annoyance in the dream I was having at the time. Damn subconscious mind...as if it had a mind of its own. I did manage to glide into the office with 1 minute to spare. I say glide when, in fact, the entry into the building was anything but smooth. I was jogging briskly by the time I reached the building and breathing as though I had not tasted the sweet warmth of oxygen for 3 years. I had darted past people in the subway and faced danger in crossing intersections that flashed an ominous, orange palm. Probably the most helpless moment was arriving at the train stop and then having to stand there and wait for about 3-4 minutes for a train to arrive. As if to mock me, the north-bound train arrived twice before mine hovered into view. But onto other things... My swell band, Anita, finished mixing our album last night. Justin and Mike stayed late to master the beast so we should be hearing final versions in the next couple days. We've got our first show coming up on February 10th at the Note. I'm pretty excited to finally start playing up here. We're waiting on some marketing postcards that should be in any day now so that we can start going out to more clubs and venues to promote the band. Exciting times. I'm still spending time with Jen when I can. I honestly wasn't sure what to expect from this. I met her back in the glory days of high school when I would spend more time driving to Peoria Central and hanging out with Bryan and crew than I would with the folks from my home town. I met Jen at a superbowl party that I'm not sure how I ended up attending. The only people I knew there were acquaintances at most. I don't recall how I started talking to her or any detail like that...I'm just pretty sure that I left with her number. There were some interesting phone conversations, but only one failed attempt at a date. We stopped talking shortly after that. A year or so later we started talking again after a chance meeting at the mall. There was one more failed attempt at a date followed by another discontinuation of communication. Move ahead from there several years to last November when I ran into her at a Peoria bar while visiting town for my friend Joe's bachelor party. We went through the glamorous Exchanging of Phone Numbers for a third time. We'll see what dramatic conclusion takes place for this episode. For now, its nice just taking things as they come and not really putting any expectations into anything. Hmmmmm...sounds lazy. Current Mood: lazy Current Music: "Blown Wide Open" - Big Wreck (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, January 15th, 2006
11:50 pm	Is My Face Fat? Patrick Swayze Raps I knew it was real...ooooh man.....this is gonna be one of those life changing moments where you always remember exactly where you were when you found out what happened. Me? I was discussing the hilarious embarassment that is Kevin Federline (sp?) when a friend mentioned that Patrick Swayze was going to put out a rap album. Impossible, I thought. I was wrong. Now, if Alec Baldwin could put out a rap album, I wouldn't need any more from life. Really. I'm serious about this. Current Mood: chipper Current Music: "Dancing Dandelions" - Super F*cking Monkey Patrol (Comment on this)
Friday, January 6th, 2006
8:11 am	You Start A Conversation, You Can't Even Finish It This morning in the subway a young woman asked me if the approaching train was the correct one to get to the railroad station. In typical, direction-giving fashion I responded by repeating the location in the form of a question: "Union Station?" I ask. By the look on her face I could tell that my words came out in even a worse mumble than I thought. She has no right to wake me from my own sphere of solitude which consumes a person as they use public transportation. She repeated that she was looking for the train station and if this was the correct train. Instead of going into a drawn out explanation of less favorable routes that indirectly state the direction she is headed is correct, I broke all the rules of direction-giving by simply saying, "yeah." She gave me a vacant thanks and boarded the train with a series of surprisingly quick steps. I slumped onto the train and sat in a seat directly behind her. Being removed from my solitude sphere so early made me feel the need to socialize. She opened the bridge of communication and now I wanted to cross that bridge. I visualized myself asking her about her destination and us laughing awkwardly as I made some regional crack about the area. She would then respond with an amusing comment about how the location is more or less favorable than Chicago. She might make a comment about planes over-shooting their runways and I would tell her it was too soon. We would then exit the train and start walking down the street together. She would look nervously at me (not a look of nervous romance, but of nervous concern) and I would explain that my place of work is right across the street from Union Station. There would be some comfort in her eyes, but not enough to stop me from trying to gain her trust once again by telling her of my coming to Chicago. Because the walk would only last a couple of blocks, there would be no concern about exchanging contact information. The departure from each other would be quick and painless. She would thank me for the help and I would wish her safe journeys or some other cliche travel statement of positive nature. As the train slowed in approach to my (our) stop, I stood up and walked right past her, keeping my back to her. I was perhaps going to turn and give a charming little smile to say, "this is your stop, you know." But as the doors opened and three or four others with fully intact solitude spheres stepped out, I turned to see her almost run into the back of me as I came to a stop. All confidence was immediately destroyed by the slight alteration of how I planned the scenario. "Do you know your way from here?" I ask, fighting for one more moment to share with her. Anything to help me feel complete...please...I need this more than anything right now. "You mean that way?" She asks then points to the only exit sign which hovers 30 feet away. "Yeah, that's it." I mutter. Her short, quick steps take her up the escalator and out of my life forever. It was enough though...I feel complete. I got my closure. Her smartass remark was just what I needed. Current Mood: amused Current Music: "Its Snowing" - Collider (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, January 2nd, 2006
5:11 pm	Oh, the Times We Had... This kind of post is primarily for my benefit on looking back at the year, but why not share my reflection time with dear friends? Here are some fond or at least mildly significant memories of 2005 (attempting to do it chronologically). 1. Spending the first hour of the year in New York City watching Wilco perform (The Flaming Lips really should have headlined the show. I mean, come on...they are exactly the kind of band you want to be watching as the new year comes in) 2. My career as a Lonely Metropolitan coming to an end. Probably the easiest departure from a band I've ever had. I was asked to leave 2 days before I was going to tell them I was finished. Its good that we were all on the same page. 3. Dating a girl (Kristi) with 3 daughters which has left a lasting impression that I want my children to all be daughters if I ever have kids. 4. The vacation: Going to Las Vegas for the first time. Damn...what a great city. Went with Erin, Nathan, and Kristi. A great little 5 day trip with a brief visit to Los Angeles. Some crazy moments involved going on the ride where you shoot up the needle on top of the revolving restaurant, being down $80 on a black jack table and then winning my money back to break even, drinking a couple gin and tonics at 9:00am while on that same black jack table, and driving down the stip in a convertible with the top down at 2:00am. Great trip. 5. Stealing Carly away from Micah...ah...what a great friend I was. Had a great time getting to know Carly and then ended up hiring her sister to work for my company at the same that I was hanging out with Carly. Had no idea they were related until one fateful evening... 6. Moved back to Bloomington with Laura and her fella, B.J. Such a great couple...I really liked living in that house. 7. The death of one of my high school classmates. What a crazy situation that was. 8. Getting better at being a drummer. Recorded the Theory of Brides album which we just completed by the end of the year. Played some great shows with that band at Lunkers. 9. Going to Lunkers...man, I LOVE that place. 10. Had some sweet makeout time over College Ave in Normal on ISU campus. Damn, she was a hottie. 11. Started seeing the special gal mentioned in previous posts. Probably my most significant relationship to date. It didn't beat any old records of time wise (around 4 months) but was a lot more intense than past relationships. 12. Took home a girl from a wedding...Amanda. A friend of a friend so not as exciting of a story as it could have been. I just remember that strange feeling of accomplishment like, "wow, I can accomplish goals if I put the correct effort into it." A pretty cool gal too...had some interesting things to say. 13. Probably the biggest change...moving to Chicago with Dan and Layne. One of those things that didn't feel real at all until after about the 3rd night. 14. Working for American Idol shortly after moving to Chicago. That was a really crazy experience, being my first job as a production assistant and also due to the crazy size of the whole thing. I met some really interesting people (both the participants and the other PA's) and even ran into a fella I used to work with (John Bond) which was kinda neat. 15. Ran into a girl I hadn't seen in years while at my friend's bachelor party. She was one of the victims of my high school years when I would obsess over a girl by calling her numerous times a day and stopping by her house without notice just to say hello. Wow...I was such a freak back then. She obviously stopped taking my calls after a short period of time, but we hit it off pretty well as we caught up and have been hanging out over the past few weeks (I made sure not to call her daily this time). 16. Joining a band up in the city called, Anita. It seems to be the most dedicated and ambitious group of people I've been involved with yet. We've got a great rehearsal space just a few minutes away from my house and I go there often to do some recordings and to work on my drumming. 17. Songwriting has definitely improved this year and have finally been able to write songs that I feel impressed by. I still have a long way to go, but I like the process of getting there. 18. One of the most exciting and ambitious ideas of the year is the prospect of writing a film and then actually putting it together with my friends, Bryan and Mark. It's a really intense idea and I'm taking it seriously. Researching how to go about the entire process is only proving how overwhelming the idea is...and that's exciting! I've been doing some practice writings to get myself ready for this. It's gonna be really hard. 19. Ended the year playing cover music in a small bar in Minonk. Not the ideal situation, but I had a good time. The guys in the cover band are a couple of my best friends so it was great to spend my birthday playing music with them. Not to mention that the drinks were all free...hmmmm.... I'm pretty happy with the year. Lots of excitement and romance...still no settling down plans...oh well, I'll give myself until 30 to worry about that. Predictions for this year... - Hopefully several solo albums (I think I hope for this every year). I've got the right location now and finally the ability to hold my own on a drum set so this will make the goal easier. - Vacation desires: Italy, Grand Canyon, Athens, Memphis or Nashville. - If I've had enough of Chicago at the end of the year, I may end up in San Diego or Maine. - Still waiting for the evil early 20's year I keep being warned about by older friends. Current Mood: nostalgic Current Music: "Batting Your Eyes" - The Lonely Metropolitans (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 30th, 2005
7:06 am	I Believe I am the Flower of Life I had a dream last night where I was on some kind of vacation with my parents. We ate at a restaurant that gave each of us raffle tickets before we sat down. The dream fast-forwarded to all of us leaving (and there was some fiasco about me parking the van(??) in the middle of the road outside). I went back inside and realized that I still had the raffle tickets. They were announcing the winners and one of my tickets was a winner! So I approached the prize table where there was an assortment of items like a laptop, a few books, a digital camera, and various other items. The people ahead of me took all the lame items and then the guy in front of me (who was actually Sam Beyer for those who know him) took the laptop that I was so set on getting. I said, "look, Sam...I REALLY want that laptop." He said it was no problem and took a disposable camera. A disposable camera!! I grabbed the laptop and fled out to the van which was still parked in the middle of the street. I then woke up as I started the van. I was so excited that I actually had the laptop. I thought it was so ironic that I was just thinking about how much I wanted a laptop before I went to sleep last night and...oh yeah. Then I got that awful feeling you have when you realize everything that just transpired was a dream. And the happier you are about the dream, the harder the comedown is. Especially when you add on that its also 3 or 4 in the morning. Booh. So...remember those posts a few months back where I was talking about this great and exciting thing? I said that I've felt similar before but this was different? I was ready to face a new level of life and all that good stuff? Well, all that has come to an end...a few weeks ago actually. I was involved with a wonderful girl who took me to new levels in the relationship realm. I never got very specific because the situation was almost Springer-esque (but don't worry...we weren't related) and it just seemed like one of those situations where I would know precisely when to lay it all out. The relationship ended because I just wasn't ready to be in something that potentially serious right now. I'm a pretty selfish person, so my life is primarily devoted to bettering myself and my position in society. It was hard right now especially with me starting in a new band and working with my new job. Plus the excitement of being in a new city (which is growing stronger as I become more financially stable and am able to actually enjoy the benefits of living in a larger city) just made me want to feel more "free" I guess. Ha, that last line sounds pretty lame. But I don't want to delete it because its the thought that came to mind. I am quite content with the decision to end the relationship (this was done about 2 weeks ago). And now I am ready to throw myself back into the drama-filled world of dating. Of course, you always get the "perfect-world" view of the person for the first couple dates...so I have that to look forward to. My last note is about a more recent sense of accomplishment. I love goals that take years to accomplish. Not necessarily while you're working through the goal, but really for that sense of accomplishment once you complete it. Sometimes you don't even know you're still working towards it...but then suddenly you see the final approach right in front of you. And boy, when you finish something that has been left incomplete for say, 6-7 years...now THAT is a good feeling. I guess that's one of the benefits of never really abandoning a person completely due to past actions. I am really happy with my life. The times are good. Current Mood: content Current Music: "Look Inside America" - Blur (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 23rd, 2005
8:29 am	And So It Is... Very sleepy today...I allowed myself to hit the snooze button twice. Oh yes, its that severe. I spent all day yesterday back home in the Peoria area. I met up with roomie Dan (who is staying at his parents' for the winter break while he works a job down there) and dropped off a large saw of some kind that he needed. He expressed gratitude in the form of a mix drink and a shot of Southern Comfort. I then took my warmed insides to Peoria where I spent time visiting some close friends. I visited Bryan in the studio and worked with Dan in laying out the design for more tattoo. Its taking on a different feeling now that I'm being serious about lining it up. It doesn't really seem like much of a big deal to me. My mom certainly didn't like the idea of it, but I can't really see how a small picture on the top of my arm will have a drastic impact on the everyday functions of my life. I am planning on getting a record with a Union Jack design for the inner circle. On the other shoulder I plan on having an outlined star with about quarter inch thick border. You have to be somewhat symmetrical to survive in this world. I may just get them both done at the same time. It would save money...but it also eliminates that window of time where I completely regret the decision and decide I would be a fool to have the other arm done. I'd rather not have that window. So I'm going to do this thing in January I believe. The guitar player of my cover band is getting married. I guess its not really my band anymore. I've got a couple shows booked with them, but they've basically found someone else to replace me when I can't play the shows. I think they're just letting me play when I can because we're all pretty tight friends. Anyways...the engagement didn't come as much of a surprise. I was preparing to break one of our silent moments with a question of when the "promise" would come. I'm excited for them and I'm willing to bet that this is one relationship that will work. I'm going to start watching more movies to "research" how a good movie is laid out. Bryan let me borrow a few movies he really enjoyed that were similar to the general ideas I've had of what I want our film to be. I also work with a lady who is a professional script writer. She offered to let me borrow some books on the subject, so that's pretty exciting. I've been checking out some different websites that offer thought-provoking tips. I finished reading Naked by David Sedaris the other day. Jen let me borrow it and I thought it was pretty great. It is supposed to be autobiographical but some of the situations seem like they must be exaggerated slightly. A lot of interesting things happened in this guy's life and he has a great way of presenting the stories. For some reason I kept thinking of Larry David (of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm fame). I'm not sure why I thought of him since he is definitely older than the protagonist at the time the book is taking place. I think its just the train of the thought the author has...who knows? Oh...yes, Marcy Playground is a great band. I have re-discovered their album, Shapeshifter, that came out in 1999. The songs are really well done and very catchy. The lyrics aren't too intense (songs like "Secret Squirrel" and "Pigeon Farm") but the album has a great feel to it. Current Mood: devious Current Music: "America" - Marcy Playground (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 21st, 2005
11:01 am	Thank You For Calling Customer Service... I just spoke to a customer named Dawud Shabazz. (Dah-wood Shuh-bozz) I really just posted it here for my reference. I found it amusing. (Comment on this)