PARTY WEEKEND!!!!

Okay, I'm not really going to go all out and "party." I got band things to do all weekend. Rehearsal tonight. Mixing session looming for tomorrow. Covering the city with flyers for our show on the 31st. But I do want to get to this.

Totally awesome extravagnaza of shoveling sausages into your maw with flocks of others similarly situated as myself.

I missed last year for some reason that I can't remember. The year before I went with Kristin and we had our brat. It went well.

And if you want me to be more specific about my quitting smoking excusrsions, I guess I can let you know (Kristin) that I've had a few cigarettes each Saturday or Sunday, usually in the presence of other band members. It's the only place where I'm tempted to have one. Last Sunday was the first band related activity that I've been at that I didn't have a cigarette. I'm planning on not having one this evening at rehersal. I'm also planning on not having one at the studio while mixing. Is that enough info? You tell me...

So I've been off the devil sticks for about a month now. I've been a lot clearer. Things are a lot clearer. I've got a lot of sorting out to do this summer. New directions are calling and their calling out loud.

I don't have time to expound on them right now.

I've got to rush off to other band related activities.

Till then. Keeping strong without cigarettes.

(I have back-slid in a few (usually on Satuday) scenarios that are a little to "familiar" for the social aspects of smoking... i.e. drinking)

Crustin Timberlake

Two days in a row for a post.

I've been off the radar for a while. You would think that only working part-time would afford me plenty of time to post awesome things about the economy or make these scathing comments about how gas prices are worse than listening to MC 900 Foot Jesus, but in fact, it hasn't really been all that important.

Here's why.

I was talking with a friend of mine who is a journalist about the nature of journalism these days. Seems that the trend, from his perspective, is that with all of the "information" flying around the internets these days, people don't want to watch tv news unless it's exciting. People don't want to hear just the facts, they want opinions and "drama." So I've been wondering why I'm even "blogging." I feel like most of the time, what I post just isn't worth taking up someone else's time, albeit three minutes. Still... How many more times can I entertain people with 'facts' like Boys Over Flowers is a better read than Zatch Bell. Or even better yet, introduce new words into the popular lexicon like "Shonk!" or "Ba-zow!" (I was cracking up about shonk pretty much all morning.)

But the truth is, I've been searching for a new avenue for life. I'm reaching that age that some would call the Saturnic Return and regardless, it's something that's just unsettling. Which dreams do I let die, which do I pursue? When do I decide that Madison is over and it's time to leave for the place that I consider home? How in the hell do I afford any of that? They're all relatively simple questions to answer. But I don't just want words as answers. I want actions.

So I'm taking action. I am reading again. I'm reading a lot of stuff I wouldn't normally look into. I've gone back to my old routine of sitting in the stacks at the library and reading a book I've pulled until I lose interest and then wandering off to find another one until something really strikes me as interesting. This is exactly how I ended up with my B.A. in Philosophy. I read a book that blew my mind and I decided that I wanted to study deeper. I'm seeking that new vein. Looking for the next lode. And it'll be big when I find it.

But in the meantime, I listen to A LOT of left talk radio. I hear all the crying and moaning and wailing and gnashing of teething about this and that and it really makes me tired of even caring about the "which side you on" mentality. It's not a matter of which side you're on. It's a matter of realizing that every time we get grifted into thinking that some "Moral" issue is the thing we should be arguing about, we are being led away from the simple idea of Profit over People. Plain and simple. And that's where I'm at right now.

So you want to talk about how Paris Hilton should or shouldn't have to rot in jail for 45 days. So you want to argue about the University of Wisconsin System and how it may or may not extend benefits to life partners for same sex couples. Go ahead. It's the same as watching Real World reruns all summer long on your Dell laptop at the pool. Make sure you stay in the shallow end though. Heaven forbid you might have to swim.

It's been how long?

There's a lot going on in the world of politics and news and this and that. I would comment on that but it's just too time consuming to put together a semi-intelligent rant about the state of the world and there are plenty of other places to get your opinions.

Instead, I'd rather announce that I've quit smoking. I've given it up for a little over three weeks now. Granted, I did have a few cigarettes on Saturdays, hanging out with the band, but they were very unenjoyable. It's absolutely awesome to get rid of that damn addiction. I have dreams again. I don't reek (well, of smoke) all the time. I don't wake up congested every morning. I just fell damn better.

The trick? This time it was the reminder of facts about the drugs in cigarettes that kept me from having one during the week at work, where they are everywhere and pretty much free for the taking. I also kept reminding myself that there will be the horrible sludgy feeling along with the doped up stupor of having a smoke. I give myself breaks without the smoking now.

So stay away from cocaine, stay away from heroine, stay away from meth. But don't make that tobacco illegal. Even though it's probably the most addictive of the bunch.

Not feelin' it today.

I really could care less about just about everything today.

I've been forcing myself to listen to the rough mixes of the recording I've been working on with Where the i Divides and it's terribly frustrating.

Why, you ask? I don't want to talk about it. Lets just say that my expectations for this project and the expectations of my collaborators aren't on the same page. I'm tired of hearing the mistakes, the constant rhythm section jangling like it's all important, all the time. I'm tired of the warble in Joe's "I'm like the guy from R.E.M, right?" voice. I just want to re-track a few guitar parts, a few terrible vocal parts and then mix the songs alone with the engineer and let the rest of the band decide after I've made my "Producer's Cut."

But that's not here or there.

Gas Prices though... That's apparently all the rage these days.

(I love the picture. I want to shop at the Open Pant'ry!)