Ouch

my elbow. Actually the muscles just above my elbow. I was lifing weights the other day. Something I never do. Maybe I overdid it, or maybe I aggravated it when I was carrying my keyboard case later that night. That's about 50lbs. To go weightlifting and then cart that monstrosity around in one hand. That's just it...my right arm is fine. I don't think it was the wieghtlifting alone. So, I have limited use of my left arm which sucks because i'm a lefty.
I'll resume working parties at the Chantlicler next friday. Nice to have something to rely on. Never burn your bridges. I'll stick with Chanticler while I keep on searching for a worthwile a la carte bar job.
Just steer clear of national chains.

$ound Byte

Just Troubleshoot Me

It could have been much simpler. I could have been creating Flash projects, or at least learning how to do it. Earlier today, I decide to dabble in flash. I've had Macromedia Studio for a while now. You know, that software multipack of Dreaweaver, Flash, Fireworks, and Freehand. I use Dreamweaver a great deal for making web pages. But today I decide to brush the virtual cobwebs and dust off of Flash. And there's this great quick tutorial which provides a wonderful introduction to the program. So, then I decide to try it out on my own. Starts off okay, but then there's an error message, and then a crash, so relaunch, then another crash, error message, etc...
So, then, I figured, I can unistall and reinstall. But where's the install disk? What the fuck did I do with the box of software? I never throw away my disks and all the software I ever buy is all together right here in a...well, okay, a pile...but at least it's all together; except for Macromedia Studio. The only hard copy of the program that I have is missing; so much for that. I'm stuck with a seemingly corrupt version of the program.

I just got back from another Wednesday open Mic at the Dancing Goat. Or it is just called “The Goat” now (new ownership)? I got there at 8pm and I am the 21st person sign up! They hadn’t even started and already they’re swamped. It seems the earlier I keep arriving, the later get to play. I hate closing the place every week. I’ve always admired those open mics that do a random drawing for playing order.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

I think my previous post was the first time i had actually used the spellcheck.

COULD SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY THE BLOGGER SPELLCHECK DID NOT RECOGNIZE THE WORD "BLOG."

I kid you not. It came up as misspelled word, "bloc" was one the suggested replacements.
That's really fucked up, if you ask me...

Where?

i care...
i am a bear...i am bare...
i have hair...i am a hare...
i can hare, no, i can hear...no, here...i can HERE....
no, i AM here...I AM HERE!

Did you miss me? I have no excuse for my scarcity. You should beat me down really badly. I should suffer greatly at your hands. Yikes!

Over six weeks it has been, but with my tendency to profusely edit over and over prior to posting, there are numerous draft posts in the well. Some good ones I never finished. Particularly, the account of when I was briefly bartending at popularnationalfranchiserestaurant.

A brand new location of this popularnationalfranchiserestaurant was opening nearby, so I applied, was hired, went through this crazy-ass week of training, all long days of having to deal with the annoying super-happy-energetic corporate trainer types (and one day went 12 hours!). Then we opened and we were busy and I was making some good money. And then after two weeks of being opened, I get the shaft because there are two many bartenders so they have to cut people from the bar schedule. But, in order for the management not to appear mean (yeah), I was offered waitstaff with first dibs on a bar position, whenever one should open. So, I wasn't fired; but, so much for that. I could have just posted the draft I typed on the day the shit went down; I was in rare form, and it's kinda scary. (I should start a b-side blog....ha!) The chanticler would take me back in heartbeat...so once these busy weekends are over (Annapoils next week, a bonspeil the week after) i'll reach out to them.

The good news is that curling season in beginning. Meeting and pickup games tonite at the club, league play starts next week. (and I'm on the really cool team)

Going to buy apples now.

...i am OUTTA here...(for now..)

Had to do it

Dumbass spammers. I deleted the comment I got from the previous post. How exciting to receive a comment from random stranger in the Blogsphere, but then to be let down by an advertisment for cat furniture. So, I changed my settings. Now you'll have that word recognition security to get past, if you dare to comment.
Getting better, slowly...the doc wrote me up for some Flonase and antibiotics (Omnicef). Although I went out and drank beer last night, watching my friend Vinny play with his band. Killing time right now before I go to work at the Chanticler; my last weekend at that job.
Eeew!...This is turning into a diary entry. I'll quit now.

Oh, Hi!

Damn, I have been neglecting this forum, haven't I? My apologies.

This cold just won't go away. I see the doc tomorrow. It's been a month almost. Came on very slowly with a tickle in my throat, didn't fully effect me until 10 days later, with a cough keeping me awake at night, and congestion and all. The worst is over, but not 100%, and this sore throat kinda lingers. The worst of it was when I away in Maine, at my cousin's wedding; particularly in the days leading up, although I was a lot better on the wedding day itself, thankfully; I could drink and be merry.

New Orleans is a low-lying, coastal city, in a swampy river delta, in Hurricane Alley.
I have never been to the area but lets just say I know, as I'm sure a lot of people do, and have thought for some time that a major hurricane to directly hit New Orleans would pretty much put the city under water. I remember watching the forecasts weeks ago and fearing the direct hit would be a major recovery for the city. It shocks me, to no end, that the city, the metro area, and the state seemed to have no preparation for such a disaster.

Relearn

It's hard to unlearn old habits. I gave up on the Dvorak key layout. (See previous posts) It was inhibiting my typing speed, and I think it even started to bother my fingers. But who has the time to unlearn and relearn these things. So, I back to typing in the ergonomically unfriendly qwerty, as effectively as I ever was. In Dvorak, I was still hunting and pecking.

Our heatwave is over. It's healthy to venture outside now. Not that I haven't been out, in fact, I biked 12 miles in the 98° heat yesterday. It was quiet on the trails, only the die hards were out it seems. Like this lightning fast rollerblader who was ahead of me, and i never caught up to him. I always pass skaters. And he eventually pulls away from my sight; I catch up to him at the end where I turn back, and he's doing push-ups; for God's sake! Another person, a boy at most 13-years old, jogging like he does it every day. If I'm correct, and he went from the parking lot to the pond and back, he jogged almost 4 miles. (Hate to have his knees in 40 years.)

What a mess at the Dancing Goat last night. I went for open-mic night but ended up not playing. The host for the night was horrible. By 10:30, 10 acts had gone, I was #20. The open mic starts at 8pm, and the place closes at 11. The place was over-crowded and hot, I ended up losing any energy to play.

Block

I can't write much these days. Maybe it's not that I can't; maybe i just don't. Maybe I don't give myself the permission to create. I have not completed a new song in two years; but strangely enough I managed to touch so many more people with my music during this time. And I get continued feedback that I should be writing for Broadway. (Where does one begin?) Mr. Borlo was a cool high school teacher I had. In my final grade report for my senior year, he wrote a comment stating his concern that I take too long to complete a written response. My writings could be very good, like how I would get an A on a paper done at home, but get C or D on a timed exam. He said I needed to keep practicing my writing and suggested keeping a journal or something like that. So, 14 years later, I'm blogging. I've also made a few failed attempts to start the Artist's Way, a book by Julia Cameron which is kinda sorta a recovery program for blocked creatives. Keeping up with it has been a problem. I block my own creativity. We all do.

You don't know Jack

Jack Daniels is not a Bourbon. It is a Tennessee Whiskey. Yet, some people (maybe you?) tend to think it is a bourbon. It says so on the website. Read the faq.

My state threw me for a loop yesterday. I get a notice that my New Jersey income taxes were underpaid. Somehow, the tax I owe was figured at double what it is supposed to be, and the amount withheld was said to be zero! And here I am all excited opening this envelope thinking it's my refund. It's an obvious mistake on their part, I just worry about all the bereauocracy, and the clueless tax agents, and all the touch-tone menus I'll have to deal with before I get my refund. I need a shot of Jack.

Oy! The Heat

No, the time and date stamp is no bug. I forgot about this post I'd started almost a month ago; and was nearly complete but saved it as a draft, to finish later. I must have been distracted somehow (Damn that Wikipedia!) Anyway...

I haven't discussed the weather recently. It's about time I rehash that old topic. It's damn near 90 today, but still, I go out for a round of disc golf in the blaring heat. And at a time of day when moms and their kids usually rule the playground equipment there was virtually no one at the park; just a stupid dad and his 2 kids, a stupid jogger, and a stupid me. But not so stupid considering I did my best score of the season. There hardly ever seems to be any spring-like weather; not too long ago we were complaining about it staying too cold and rainy, and then, BAM!, a fucking heatwave. So stifling. I walk outside and it's a chore just getting around, feeling like you're being cooked to death. I'm better off when it's subzero, you get cold, but that's what clothes are for. I hate the sweating, and the parked car you get into that's like an oven. At least I have access to a pool.

Trump Stumps for the Towers

Thank you, Donald Trump. Now, the effort to Rebuild the Towers has some key support. Hopefully, Donald can wake up the rest of us silent supporters, and that stupid ugly freedom tower bullshit -- that iconic representation of Daniel Libeskind's architectural self-absorption -- will forever remain a legend of the drawing board.
Let me state the obvious: If terrorists destroy the Statue of Liberty, would you want someone to erect some symbolic monument in its place? No, right? You would want it rebuilt.
Terrorists destroyed the towers. They lose if we rebuild them. They win if we don't. They win if, god forbid, we put up those windmills enclosed in that shapeless spire of steel mesh.
So Don, thank you, and save us from the potential of a skyline polluted with chicken-wire.

Destinations

Wow!

I saw a llama today!

Airwalks, Anyone?

What's happened to Airwalk sneakers? I can't find them anywhere. It's time for a new pair of sneakers, and I set out today hoping to find for myself a new pair of Airwalks, but no one seems to carry them. I like Airwalks -- I'm not a skateboarder by any stretch of the imagination -- I just like their style, cool and comfy; and understated: neither flashy nor boring white. I could get a pair of Converse All-Stars, they're cool, but so cheaply made it takes a toll on your feet after a bit, and you can't wear them in the rain. Oh, well. I need to find a pair of sneakers I like. Now it means I have to "shop." The simple act of "buying" has now become the tedious task of "shopping," which requires me to interact with the people at the stores. Hopefully, it will be quick and painless.

Yesterday I had my Calculus II final. I think I got through it okay. We'll see. Curves are a wonderful thing. With curves, it's not necessary to ace an exam, you just have to do better than the majority.

Still typing in Dvorak. And getting faster...

One Headlight

...you know that song, by the Wallflowers. It's a great song, isn't it? It's lyrical depth is amazing. To this date, I have not come across any song since that (1996) which tops or meets its lyrical profundity. The second verse is the height of this intensity. Anyway, so now I'm going to commit the blog faux pas of recopying song lyrics. But seriously, take a moment to ponder these words...
(You know...I really shoud be studying for my Calculus final now, oh well...)

"She said it's cold
It feels like Independence Day
And I can't break away from this parade
But there's got to be an opening
Somewhere here in front of me
Through this maze of ugliness and greed
I seen the sign up ahead
At the county line bridge
Saying all there's good and nothingness is dead
Run until she's out of breath
She ran until there's nothing left
She hit the end, it's just her window ledge"
-- Jakob Dylan

There's a lot of debate online of what the song is actually about; but it's definitely deserving of the two Grammys it received. It's one of those songs that has ended up running in my CD player on "single repeat" mode. And while it's lyrically deep and intense, musically it's upbeat and uplifting; happy sounding.

¡Felíz Cinco de Mayo!

End of curling season (late)

The ice was shut off today. One month later than usual, because we were waiting for a new compressor back in November, and curling started one month later. Our season-opening bonspeil was postponed to be the season-closing bonspeil, which was held this weekend. I stayed for clean-up during which some members and thier kids brought skates and went ice skating. (Skating is never allowed on a curling rink.) Some of us tried tray-sliding. After a good amount of skating, some of us tried throwing rocks on the destroyed ice. Conditions similar to outdoor curling. It took alot of power to hurl a stone even half way down the sheet. Anyway, it's summer is around the corner. So it was time for hugs and kisses, and temporary goodbyes (even a few tears). More curling in six months...

Dvorak...is it worth the trouble?

All righty then. Let's see how long this takes me. I'm typing using the Dvorak key layout. It is supposedly a more ergonomically friendly arrangement of the letters. It seems to have quite a devoted following, with a good amount of advocates if you search the web. All computers today have this option amongst the multitude of layouts you can select in the control panel. So, I'm giving it a try. One major problem is that everyone's keys are still labelled in Qwerty; so the keys are a distraction while I follow with a printout. It's not so much hunt-and-peck as it is a cipher-and-peck. But I'm catching on already after just a few lines of typing. We'll see...

Lemonade

It's springtime, although you wouldn't know it considering today's dreary weather. Three days ago, however, it was like Summer. Do you know what it means when spring arrives? Well, I'm sure means a lot of things, but one thing is for certain: Lemonade!
I like lemonade, but about, say, three years ago I ran into a problem. I wanted to buy lemonade at the store, but every brand of jar/carton lemonade contained high-fructose corn syrup and citric acid. Lemonade is supposed to be a refreshing beverage, but there is nothing refreshing about high-fructose corn syrup and that glob of phlegm it creates in my throat. And why do you need to add citric acid when you have lemon juice already? To make it taste more bland??

So that's when I started making my own. Real lemons, pure sugar, water, ice. It's not hard at all.
It's like I found a new hobby for myself; a little task that's oh-so-rewarding...and refreshing!

Don't chase a kite...

...if you inadvertenly let go. Especially if the kite is flying over a house, because you'll end up chasing the spool toward the house and if you don't see where you're going you'll end up crashing into the outside wall of the house.

Ow.