Goo goo, goo goo Barabajagal was his name now

Kat and I were out to dinner over the weekend and I ordered fish tacos. The waiter asked me if I'd like them fried or grilled. I thought he meant the whole taco, but he was only referring to the fish. I asked him to describe how it would look prepared each way. Looking kind of incredulous that I didn't know the difference, he said "Uhh... well, when it's fried, it comes out with breading...y'know it looks fried. And when it's grilled it has...uhhh lines on it". It wasn't until the meal arrived that I discovered only the fish portion of the taco was grilled.

I share the above anecdote not because it's gripping or hilarious, even though it is clearly both of those things, but to illustrate how wonky communication can be. Miscommunication abounds, even when ordering fish tacos. Well, anyway, the fish tacos were pretty good. There is that.

I just trimmed Princess Puppy Baby's nails. She was laying on the bed and when she saw me appear with clippers in hand, she got off that bed toots sweet and curled up in the corner, trying not to make eye contact with me. I tried to coax her onto the bed, usually an easy task, but she wasn't having it. I anticipated some resistance and, after a few minutes of attempting to reassure her that I'd be as gentle as could be, she came onto the bed and let me do my work, despite not looking very happy about it. Didn't take long and no blood was spilled. What a brave girl she was!

Started watching Argo last night but only made it about a half hour in. The movie wasn't turning me off or anything, it was just that I had other stuff I wanted to do, like work on songs, and go down some rabbit holes concerning false flags, etc. I also squeezed in a powerful session of yoga. Will I return to Argo tonight? Possibly, but I think I may watch the latest episode of The Leftovers, which has me in its grips.

Well, alright then....

Think for yourself 'cause I won't be there for you

Been busy all around. Work has significantly picked up and so many other things have needed attending to. I won't get into those other things because, quite frankly, they'd bore you. Or maybe not. What do I know? But busy I have been and it hasn't been awful. Let's leave it at that.

Anyway

For those of you who are Ignore Emporium fans, you can look forward to a couple of new songs appearing on the IE Facebook page in a day or two. I'll have to mix down at home on my computer. I need to head there anyway as it's been a couple of weeks since I've stopped by. I'm crossing my fingers that it's not in complete shambles. We'll see. Doesn't matter if it is, I suppose; I won't be back until next month.

I've been reading a lot about our country's religion of Nationalism, which, the evidence illustrates, tops all others. Perhaps I'll expand on this topic in another post.

Been watching The Leftovers and I like it a lot. Similar to Lost in that there are more questions than answers, but The Leftovers is far superior, in my opinion.  Check it out, sayeth I.

The week has flown by. The bulk of last weekend was at my mom's doing stuff. This weekend I've got a guy coming by to fix the AC units here (Thank God!) and I've got to get Missy D a new ID tag (The other night during our walk she was off leash and when she came over to me, her tags were gone. I've since scoured the park several times to no avail. Thought I'd find them; I thought wrong).

Well, now it's time to say goodnight, as Ringo once sang.

Pip, Pip, and Cheerio!

If I were a carpenter and you were my lady

My vacation draws to a close. I'm not sure how I'd rate it except to say that it was good to get away from the grind for a week. I watched a bunch of movies and TV shows via HBO GO and Netflix, read, socialized some, practiced yoga daily, hung out with Missy, that sort of thing. The grind beckons; I'm kind of looking forward to reengaging.

I didn't work on music very much this past week, but did manage yesterday to finish a recording of a new song and made a good amount of progress with another. I also got to work on some stuff with Kat, so there's that, too. We had a fine time together, which also involved beers and smoke and good conversation.

My mom left me a message on Friday inquiring about when I could come by to mow her lawn. Being the tail end of my vacation, I wasn't very interested in driving the 45 minutes to her house and doing chores. Well, I actually enjoy cutting grass and helping my mom out when I can, so I got over my initial reticence and headed over to her house yesterday. I mowed her lawn, cleaned her driveway, and walked Mimi (my mom had left for my sister's shortly after my arrival). I sweated my ass off but it was good to be out and about like that. Now it won't be so jarring heading back to work.

Every time I house sit here for an extended period of time, invariably, usually about a week into it, I start feeling the sensation of being in an elevator when I'm not in on. I use the elevator several times a day, but I'm not sure what accounts for this after effect. I found out from Leah that she experienced the same thing during her stint here. Well, at least I'm not the only one. I've got several more weeks to go. I hope I get over this or those weeks will feel like months.

Alright, kittens, it's time to go.

When I see you changing, it makes me think that I can change too

Been reading Stanton Friedman's Captured, about the Betty and Barney Hill UFO incident. I wasn't very invested early on in the book, which was more my fault than the book's, but last night  I read a sizable chunk and stayed up late as a result. I woke up to a rhythmic pounding sound that was reminiscent of something generated from the bowels of Mordor. It was seven thirty; I was not happy. They're constructing another building across the park and work started early. This is a quiet place, but only relatively speaking. It takes a concerted effort to leave society behind. Maybe someday I'll go off-grid. Maybe not.


Ok, this is aggravating.  I typed the above paragraph a few days ago and didn't get back to it until today. I typed another several paragraphs and, because of the wonders of technology, or more Spira's laptop ,  everything new I added was deleted.

Not terribly thrilled, especially considering the time and effort I put into it. I'm not going through that again, so fuck it.

Maybe another time.

Hello daddy, hello mom, it's your ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch cherry bomb!

Haven't heard from Spira but she's been posting on FB here and there about her progress. She's in Bali now I believe. Here at the homestead the central a/c keeps shutting off and requires constant rebooting. Before she left, Spira told me this happens on occasion. Little did she know. Still, it's not a big issue and, judging by one of her recent FB posts, she's been in the midst of some insane heat and humidity.

I'm on vacation but in a way it more resembles Rocky's training regimen in Rocky IV. Well, perhaps not as intense and 80's themed, but I've been amping up the exercise. In addition to practicing yoga daily, I've been taking advantage of the stairwell in the building and running up and down four flights with weights at least four times a session.  And having a place to myself has really benefited my yoga practice. Sessions have become more creative and flowing and the aforementioned weights have been incorporated (they're Spira's five pound hand weights). 

I've done my share of relaxing here, to be sure. And I've also indulged in snacks a bit more than I usually do, but hey, it's vacation. It is, but I don't want to come out the other end of it a soft serve doughboy (I think I just coined a term). What if instead I emerged fitter than ever? We'll see, but I'm giving it a go. It hasn't hurt that I've been  watching a bunch of Anderson Silva MMA fights. 

There are things to do so I'm signing off. I'll probably post more often than usual, so if you're pining to find out how the wedding went last weekend, you probably should rethink your life, but also don't fret because I just mays grace another post with its shimmering sexiness and grace. 

Or something like that. Ciao!

Things we used to do on grass

My vacation began a couple of hours ago and it arrived just in time. I needed the fuck out of the rat race for a spell.  It's been a while since I've taken more than a couple of days off at a time. I've got eleven ahead of me. There will be relaxation and quiet, but my days will be busy ones. Among other things, I plan on amping up the job search. Tonight, though, I'll finish watching Choke, a documentary about Rickson Gracie, the jiu-jitsu maven, and one about Ricky Jay, the magician. And I'll lavish Princess Puppy Baby with TLC. That is a given.

I'm about three quarters moved in at Spira's. I brought some things over last night when I came by to pow wow about numerous things before she left for Bali for a month, which was this morning. I hugged her a lot last night; I'm going to miss her. 

Last weekend flew by. Spira and I went to Melanie and Casey's party in Salem on the rainy 4th of July.  I like the Salem/North Shore crew. Real down to earth and almost every one of them a pot smoker. Throughout the entire night, there was a joint or a pipe being passed around. Their coal black living room table was weathered and warm and covered with cool crayon drawings. We were encouraged to add our own. I drew something esoteric and kind of out there. What would you expect in those circumstances?

The next day was Jonathan and Vibhu's wedding. It was also my birthday. 

And that's where I'll end this post. I'll be back and elaborate. Or not. Who knows? I'm off to other things, child. 

See you soon.

Turn on the radio, nah fuck it, turn it off

Yesterday went from zero to shitty in a blink of an eye. It involved having to do a shit ton of driving on behalf of work in a car with no working AC and in the traffic laden hell that is 128 (it was absolutely horrible around three; I shivered at the thought of what it would be like at five). I cursed the fates, my job, everything. It was not a good day. My thoughts were familiarly grim (so it goes these days) and I just wanted out. I got through the day, but it was a clarion call for me to get another job. I work full time and my eight year old niece has more money than me. I am not even kidding.

More driving today, this time up to Nashua. Missed you, heat! My poor car is being driven into the ground. Changes have to happen. Thank goodness for the long weekend and the approaching vacation. Thank goodness, indeed!

I hung out with Mara last night. Hadn't seen her in months. It was a relatively short visit. I'm not here to bad mouth anyone, especially her, but she's pretty self involved and not easy to engage in a conversation. It's more like a running monologue. Still, I care about her, so I can tolerate it every once in a while.

Every summer I have to contend with fruit flies and pantry moths. They've been a ubiquitous presence in the kitchen. Since Fred and Evangeline don't seem to mind, I took measures and set up a trap for the fruit flies using a bowl, saran wrap, and fruit. Works every time. As for the moths, Fred and Evangeline will have to clean throw out their moth infected food stuffs before any meaningful elimination can occur.

I'll tell you what: if it wasn't for the AC in my bedroom, I don't think this week would have seen much sleep. Fucking hot, son!

Alright, I'm spent. There always seems to be at least one fruit fly bugging the fuck out of me in my room. They are not easy to swat, but whenever I do manage to kill one, another takes its place. They are assholes, every last one of them.

Bye