Busy as a bee

I put in the effort and got the damn resumes sent off for the new jobs. Maybe I'll get one.

Shit.

I'm totally fed up with my jobs right now.

I'm totally fed up with this damn heat.

My name is now, unofficially, J. C. Blev.!

I am your savior.

Savior from the whirpool vortex above a storm drain you accidentally slip into while stumbling down the street on the biggest trip of your life and there's a hurricane a'blowin'.

See what I was talking about?

Okay, I just want to say that it was a big-ass storm.

That out of the way...

So yeah... I never got around to finishing this post.

Too busy I guess.

"Nothing's ever good enough for you"

So it started raining about 20 minutes ago. I stepped outside for a cigarette and stood under an entryway roof thing-y and by the time my cigarette was gone, my shoe and one pant leg were soaked from the wind blowing sheets of rain seven feet in. With it slowing down now, I think that I may attempt to procure some gustatory delights from the nearby gas station for lunch.

That said (and I love thunderstorms) it is time to talk some more about the band.

Joe thinks that we should hold off on new material. Translation: I don't want to write more lyrics right now. He want's to focus on the songs we have, polish them up and then get our stage show worked out (the one with the sync-ed video and the additional music tracks pumped through the PA.) I can agree with that to a point. I really want to play a few shows and get our 'songbook' expanded to a full 30 songs.

I honestly think, though, that if we (and more specifically, me) keep focusing on the songs we have, I'll end up not working out new material. It's just like that drawing I have on one of my journal-binders where this guy is holding a baby that's holding a sign that says, "Nothing's Ever Good Enough for You." (Line from a Radiohead song I was listening to in the library at MSU one fair afterknoon while drinking coffee and writing crap.)

I'm gunna get lunch now.

Alright, that's just not funny

I don't know if anybody is aware of this, but the humble beginnings of the Onion, Online Satire "Newspaper", was actually a printed document circulated in the fair and culturally diverse city of Madison, WI. We used to pick up copies of the Onion and leave them in the Video Room for browsing and comedic uplifting during our droll days in high school. So all of ya'll that think it's an online thing can eat it. We had it first, before it was purchased by Disney, moved to New York, and put on the web. Believe me, it's way more entertaining in print as a coffee shop/lunch by yourself read than it ever could be at your desk on a monitor.

Last week they ran yet another 'best of' with my personal favorite "Christ Returns to NBA."

So this article seemed to be appropriate. 'MidWest' Discovered Between East, West Coasts.

Onto other things:
Yes, it was my birthday on Sunday. I didn't do anything too exciting. Had a few beers, sat and watched some TV, had a steak for dinner.

While driving to work this morning, I saw a sign that said, "ASC" and thought that it might have something to do with Dean. Some evil company on Atwood Ave. that harbors investigative research demons or something of that nature, seeking the Philosophers Stone.

There was a bit of an argument at work this morning which was a long time coming. One of my asst. Mgrs handed it to this girl who's almost always in Bitch Mode. It was nice. Very very nice. Luk-a-Guine-Glick-a-glick-a-guill-guh.

Excuse me, Sir.

So everyone thinks that the myspace thing is lame. I don't seem to recall asking your opinions. Maybe then, I should have deactivated the comments on that post. (can I do that?)

Alright. Criticism noted, and then promptly ignored. We are going for the 16 year old hotties as our base market. Joe said something about talking to his buddy about holding the page for an offical band site. That would be a better thing for us anyway.

Regardless, I can't help but want to say things like, if you think myspace sucks, I can't agree more with you, but it's a way for people to check out our music (if we ever get it up on the site) and pictures (again, with the same issue) that only requires minimal work. We aren't asking you to get your own myspace account, in fact, we don't want you to. Just check it out when I tell you to (when there is something new posted to inspect) and ignore it like the rest of myspace (like I do.)

Is that cool or should I take a poll? All those in favor of my band not having a myspace page raise your hand. Now promptly go form you own band and not put up a myspace page.

(sorry, I'm a little grouchy today.)

In other band related news:

Our first practice in the new rehearsal space (the barn) was spectacular. The sound in there is good. Joe sang through his 100w amp and I sang through his 15w amp and still out sang him. He needs to learn how to project his singing voice. Danny brought his keyboard playing friend for an "audition." I wasn't pleased about that but it worked itself out. The poor guy was in over his head. I was trying to tell him chords and notes that I was playing and he had no idea what I was talking about. Oh well. He seemed like a nice enough guy but I would have liked to have had a discussion with the four members of the band about it before we had him show up.


In other non-band related news:

My friend Liz told me to just apply at epic systems for several positions. They'll put me where they want me, if they want me, which they will. She said they administer this test during one of the interviews with puzzles. Frickin' Sweet!!! She also said that they ask a lot of open-ended questions like, "Tell me about a time that you felt like you had accomplished something," or, "What did you picture yourself doing as an adult when you were still a kid?" I'm hoping that my next interview includes the question, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Because I can then reply, "Celebrating the five year anniversary of you asking me this question!"

Two small things

First off, I wish this 'big empty' would just go away.

Secondly, the website is up.

Where the i Divides

Joe put all of the info up. He asked me to put some mp3's onto a CD for him so he could upload our demos. He has copies of all of our songs on CD's and he has our stuff on his ipod. I asked him if he didn't know how to rip a CD and he said he'd ask his wife to do it.

If he reads this he'll be angry with me and let me know about it at practice.

Actually, third thing.

We have a practice space in Madison... finally. Our inagural practice is tomorrow. I'm very excited and hope that this will be the first of many rehearsals and writing sessions to come in this space. Thank you Joe and Rachel for letting us use your facilities.

Drowning in Humidity

It's really humid in Madison right now. Yuck.

I think that if I go to sleep tonight I'll not wake up, only because I've drown in a pool of my own sweat... that or maybe it'll be saliva.

Big times fast aproach. Band meeting tomorrow. We will discuss the new (potential) practice space at my friends farm. It'll be in their barn so we'll probably take a trip out there to scope the place out. I've got two new songs that have arangement issues. I don't know how to put them together. The problem is that I have begun to think that the music I write is to predictable and formulaic. I don't really know how to go about putting parts into place and I have decided that I'm going to DEMAND from my bandmates that they give weighty suggestions.

We'll see how it pans out. And I'm totally stoked about soccer on friday night. I'm going to be so exhausted.

Story from the Bus

I first off would like to say that I have a real hard time writing the word bus. I really, really, really want to spell it buss, but that's just wrong.

I was awaiting my new bus in Billings, Montana at 12:45 A.M. with a bunch of other freaks and was recalling the time I had to stand there for four hours waiting to get on a bus to Bozeman, MT. There was a woman who was an old hippy... I think that I've posted about this one... and she was real creapy like. So I've adopted a policy that I don't talk to people on the bus or at the bus stations (unless I absolutely have to.)

That doesn't always work the way you want it to though. Case in point. I was standing in the Billings depot and I noticed a kid with a t-shirt that had a Fullmetal Alchemist symbol on the back and a Blood Seal on the front. I thought it was funny that he had that t-shirt on. Then I realized that it was sad that I recognized the symbols.

Anyway. I went outside to smoke cigarettes and stay away from the people, so I put on my big headphones (they look like earmuffs) and listened to music as I was puffin' away. People would mill in and out of the depot and whatever and it was fine. I avoided eye contact, kept to myself and listened to my music. But then this kid I spotted earlier comes walking out. He starts talking to some guy that was on the bus with us once I got on in Livingston. That guy went inside or something so the kid wandered over to me and started talking. I couldn't hear a word he was saying because I had my headphones on, and they're big so it's obvious that I'm listeneing to music. I let him go for a little bit and then finally pull of the headphons to hear what he's talking about. Apparently the sight on the gun for the Area 51 video game was all askew. Ha! I then asked him about the t-shirt, knowing full well that I was getting into trouble but I kinda wanted to see where it would go. He started talking crazy about the cartoon and I said that I didn't watch it, I just read the comics. At that point he started talking about some character on a keychain that was attached to his belt and I lost interest. I think he caught on (through my subtle hints that I didn't care) and just wandered away.

Thar be uh store-iee for tha ages.

back from the high plains

I am pushing my way through the first day back at the jobs. Yuck. Being unemployed isn't fun but taking a vacation that last more than a few days and a weekend is worse once it's over.

I have yet to forget the feeling of sitting on 2nd street outside the coffee shop in the afterknoon, watching the clouds and the people and the mountains and not worrying about getting anything done. I was able to put that off over the weekend after I got back to WI by having relatives in town for the Brewers/Cubs game in Milwaukee. I relaxed yesterday by napping and just milling around.

It's all being washed away now. Once I'm done with work today, it completes the first phase of the routine. Then it's off to the gym for the first workout since I've gotten home. I did purchase a guest pass to a gym in Montana for one day and got an approximate workout in during my vacation but it's mostly like being fresh from two weeks off.

Sorry I've been gone. It wouldn't really matter that much anyway. I've been busy with my obsession and I kinda don't feel like I've got much to post/say these days. I don't take the time to really get into the more insightful side of my brain (as if there is one) at work while I'm posting this. My "roommates" keep threatening to get a high-speed connection at the house but I'll believe that when I have an ethernet connection in my room.

I'll post some pieces about the bus trip. The stories aren't that great but riding the bus is always a marathon in patience and endurance. And maybe a few pictures of the new scars.

The Third of July

Hey yeah, I'm out of town. Not much access to a computer to post and keep you two faithful readers (I'll work on getting rid of that faith of yours) up to date on the boredom that is my life.

Montana is home. I'm home, for now.

Be back next week to the mundane.