I just want to start with three items that are completely absurd things I experienced last week.
I have a co-worker who leaves his hunting magazines around the warehouse in where I “work”. And I was bored like usual so I was paging through one the other day. Outdoor Life magazine announced their 2008 Editors’ Choice for “Ammunition of the Year”. This was the first line to the article. I did not make this up. It said, “No gun is better than its load. That’s what does the job.” I then looked at the cover to make sure I was not reading Penthouse Forums. I am just pointing this out for I now have a new approach for this year. Hopefully the line works.
Yesterday, I was in a local home improvement store. I could not believe it. They were closing out the winter items and putting in the spring items. It is January 10th in Buffalo, New York. Winter does not usually end until the annual St Patrick’s Day in March. We have two more months of winter here roughly. And we will need things to deal with it. Like say rock salt. I had to buy if I wanted to make sure I have it. Sadly, it probably will not be enough. But I will not be able to buy it. However, lawn furniture will be available for purchase though. Here is a clue. I do not think about lawn furniture in January because I cannot see my lawn. There is 2-3 feet of SNOW on top of it! Here is another observation. The economy of this country may be slowing down because stores are not stocking the items we need for the season we need it for.
The other thing happened to me today in a store. I was behind a woman who thought she was the only person who existed and she had issues with everything. She was draining the life force out from the place. And there was not that much of it to begin within there. All I could think was that I found the woman who was the inspiration for the term “bitch slap”. I am not advocating violence. But you have to admit that there are indeed people who have it coming to them.
On now with the post. And I have a lot of things to say in this one.
Henry Rollins re-issued his 1991 album Live @ McCabe’s. It is hard to believe I bought that album when it came out. It was and still is a very influential album for me. This is a “spoken word” album where he is not playing any music. It is not stand up comedy per say but there are funny moments. There are also parts that are hard to hear him talk about. It is about the story and trying to come to some insight. It is something to that inspired me to combine that drama with laughter. I am not sure it has always come off in my writings. But I that is what I am trying for. And the experiment continues.
Trying to find to find some insight to an awkward situation.
I was watching Magnum Force last week. The film ends with another famous Dirty Harry quote. Watch. (Sorry I could not embed this clip)
Yes! A man needs to know his limitations. Too many times that knowledge comes the hard way.
Like many out there I planned some resolutions for the New Year. And now I feel like the Lloyd Bridges character in the classic movie Airplane! who picked the “wrong week”
I wanted to start the year off with an effort to curtail some of my many vices. Vices that will go unnamed at this point in time. It is a bit frustrating. Not that I believe in such things but I was reading my horoscope in a local freebie paper. It said that I should, “Add some compassionate sarcasm and loving satire into the mix, and you will generate lots of sweet karma”. What is that supposed to mean? I do not have a clue. I want to talk about an event in my life that forced major change but I cannot. Simply because “whatever you say can be used against you in a court of law”. I have a situation which most likely has to be resolved by the court system. It has been a frustration beyond frustration for me. It changed my economics drastically and quickly. But back to the horoscope for a moment. The industrial complex where my job is located was sponsoring a blood drive. And I wanted to call to say I have some “donors” for them. But I was informed that I could not “donate” other people’s blood for them. It is a crime. I said it would be easy for them because all they would have to do is hold a bucket under where I punched these “donors” in the head. I do not think that this is “compassionate sarcasm” that “karma” was looking for. But I am curious to know how many punches it takes to get a pint. We know how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop!
I seem to have to a lot of crap to deal with over the last 2-3 weeks. But I listened to an interesting talk about poop though last week. (Episode 874) I know have a lot of crap because a few days before Christmas my sewer line backed up. Talk about getting a lump of coal in the stocking. But I found it to be a religious experience. I prayed all night for the sewer not to back up and out of the sump pump hole. And my prayers were answered. Just wished it did not cost me what it ended up costing. Prayers answered so I had to put money in the collection basket. I maybe a five time lapped Catholic but it all came back to me.
And speaking of breaking down my MP3 player volume control broke on me. (And not to mention the small crack in my truck’s windshield that is slowly growing.) I had to replace it with a new one even with my current tight economics at the moment. Having a MP3 player helps make the work day move along and saves me from having to listen to a lot of useless conversations. Podcasts have helped me to learn a lot over the last year. It makes me feel productive. It is also bigger so I can listen to more things. It also plays videos. I need to find out if there is a way to convert DVD’s to watch on it. I am not sure. But with all that I need to do this can wait a bit. But if you know how it can be done please e-mail me. It may save me some time and frustration. I am short on the first one and abundant on the other at the moment.
I found also found an interesting music podcast called HamRadio. It features a very eclectic listing of music. I like that it not the same music over and over which seem to be the format to most radio stations these days. There is nothing new to radio and that maybe why people are abandoning it for podcasts. Radio is too afraid to challenge their audience. Repeating the same songs over and over is boring. No one wants to spend time being bored. If you like interesting playlists check out Harmony in My Head
or Roots Rock Radio.
But HamRadio turned me on this song for this posting.
MUSIC: Chemical Brothers
I think the hardest part is the situation caused my economic shift rippled through other things. There are a few things that I wanted to do that I have had to put on hold and may even have to cancel for this year. It is January and I am already sounding like a Buffalo Bills fan. “Maybe next year will be better?”
There is part to letting people in. However, if things do not look right it is hard to share. I know my website could and should look better. I was going to hire a web developer to get the website into shape. I know I should learn for myself and someday I might. But my job is to write and create. Web developer job is to format site. I can only cover so much ground. And I have to learn to stop trying to cover all the ground on my own. There are lessons to learn. But I have to find people out there who are willing to be teachers even partners in the process. In other words, I need more doers than talkers. And that is the opposite purpose of talk radio.
I also wanted to get a video camera because I miss working with one. So the digital camera will have to do for now but I wish it had a better zoom lens. Beggars cannot be choosers. Unless you are the automotive or banking industry. So I need to figure how to put four wheels on my problem or convince someone that my change jar is indeed a bank. I need to be really creative here. But here is to hoping for federal emergency funding.
Something happen to me at the end of last November. It became official. I achieved something that I thought would happen later in life. I became “Too old for this shit”. It lead to my latest bathroom reading book entitled Rules for Aging: A Wry and Witty Guide to Life By Roger Rosenblatt. It was a Christmas gift from my aunt. But I am stuck at the moment attempting to read Chapter 3 called “Let Bad Enough Alone”. So I am going to have to increase the fiber in my diet to focus on reading the book. And she also gave me the book The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht. But I am pretty sure in the short term I am not going to need to how to deal with escaping quicksand, how to wrestle free from an alligator or knowing what to do if my parachute failed. Call me optimistic. But I am still crossing my fingers. Just to be safe.
I want to leave with posting my playlist.
Simon and Garfunkel-Sounds of Silence. I may come off a quiet person in person but I do not deal well with silence. But this does not mean I want to be subjected to constant chatter. Especially when I am trying to watch a movie.
Husker Du-What’s Going On?
Tom Waits-Hold On. For two lyrics. “You live it up you won’t live it down.” And “You don’t meet good girls in coffee shops”.
Black Label Society-The Blessed Hell Ride
The Headstones-Three Angels. “The problem with living is when you get there you’re seldom forgiven”.
Soundgarden-Room a Thousand Years Wide
A Perfect Circle- The Noose, Disconnect. Just listen to their The Thirteenth Step album.
Tim Wilson-One Idiot Away. Had to throw in a song for a laugh.
Screaming Trees- Dollar Bill. Sometimes you just come up short.
Tres-Writing on the Wall
Mr. Bungle-Chemical Marriage. Sometimes a nonsensical song just simply works.
Bruce Springsteen-Dead Man Walking. “Between our dreams and our actions lies this world.”
Our Lady Peace-One Man Army from the album Happiness is a Fish You Can’t Catch
Neil Diamond-If I Don’t See You Again.
Quiet Riot-Metal Health. Had to end with 80′s retro classic
Finally, let me end here. There is an old adage that says, “It is always darkest before the dawn”.
That may be true. But you have to know where the horizon is so you can be looking the right way.
And here is to putting more mileage on the grindstone.
