| and that fuckin' pig told me she was clean. |
[Nov. 16th, 2009|09:44 am] |
I might have H1N1. I have a fever, chills, sweats, cough, sore throat, sour tummy, fatigue, aches and pains etc. I have a doctor's appointment in a little while to see what's wrong. I had to call out sick in the middle of a trip because of it. The way I feel is very similar to how I felt when I was going through heroin withdrawal. It's not at all pleasant. My flight from San Francisco to Portland last night was brutal. I was in a lot of pain and had to sit in a middle seat next to 2 guys who were not at all interested in being considerate with the available space. I am now quarantined in the basement until I get better.
This is what I get for talking shit. When H1N1 made it's debut I joked that I hoped I would get it so I would be on the cutting edge. Now that H1N1 is passé I didn't want it anymore. We'll see what the doctor says. I had a regular flu shot this year, but I didn't get the H1N1 vaccine. I just had a cold a couple of weeks ago, too.
At least I'll lose some weight.
UPDATE: It's not H1N1. It's some other unknown virus. |
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| and what the fuck is wrong with people? |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|03:53 pm] |
I was flying Southwest on my commute to work. My boarding number was in the high B numbers, so I figured I would have a middle seat. That's fine. Since I'm flying standby, beggars can't be choosers. Imagine my surprise when I found an open window seat with the middle seat next to it also unoccupied. Feeling lucky, I sat down and started to read my book.
I'm currently reading Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen. My flight was from from Portland to Oakland, and I was feeling less lucky and slightly pissed off because of the baby that was kicking the back of my seat. That baby wasn't even 1% as annoying as the woman who boarded the plane last and decided to sit in the seat next to me.
The guy on the aisle was reading his magazine while the plane was boarding. This woman came up to him and interrupted him, asking him to put her carryon in the overhead. I'm a firm believer in the "don't pack it if you can't lift it" concept of carryon luggage, but he was nice enough to get up and put her bag away for her. She then said that she was going to take the middle seat in our row because there was nothing else. Except that there were a bunch of other open seats on the plane. Whatever, I'm flying for free so who am I to complain.
She sat down and immediately started asking him all sorts of questions. He's tall, does he play sports? Hockey? Her son plays hockey. Where does he play? Oh, she's never heard of that town. The whole time he was trying to get back to his magazine. Finally he put on his earphones and she left him alone.
Then she swung her head my way and started reading my book. This is one of my very biggest pet peeves. As if that wasn't bad enough, she interrupted my reading to ask me to hold my book in a better position for her to read along with me. I told her no, that I was trying to enjoy my book in peace and quiet. She started arguing that she wanted to enlighten her mind as well and she was finding my book very interesting. I told her sorry, but I didn't bring my book for others to enjoy. She had a thick Eastern European or Russian accent and used it to tell me that she didn't know much about American history and was finding the book fascinating, so could I please share it with her. Again, I told her no and that if she found it so interesting, she should go buy it. I continued reading.
But she continued reading along. When she got to the right-hand page, she started huffing and puffing and fidgeting because she was having trouble seeing it. The she said "But I'm so bored. Please let me read along." I told her to read her own book. She said that she didn't bring one, then said that it was boring and she was enjoying mine better. I was utterly annoyed with this woman at this point and told her that she was being incredibly rude. She explained that "In her culture it is not rude."
At this point the guy on the aisle who had put her bag away for her got up to get a flight attendant.
"Well in America it is considered rude to read over someone's shoulder, and since you are currently immersed in American culture, you should act accordingly," I responded.
Her retort? "I'm not reading over your shoulder. I'm sitting next to you."
She saw my name tag and asked how Southwest would feel about me treating passengers that way. I told her that I didn't work for Southwest so I really couldn't give a fuck what they would think. She then saw my company's insignia and asked how THEY would feel if she sent a letter.
"Go ahead and write them a letter and tell them that you were rudely reading over my shoulder and when I asked you politely to stop, you pressed the issue and insisted that I let you. Go ahead. I'll help you with your spelling."
I stood up and said that I was going to change my seat because she had made me utterly unable to enjoy reading my book in peace and quiet. I started to crawl over her legs to get to the aisle. She said, "No, I'll get up, I'll get up."
"We're past the point of being polite, lady." I got up and moved my seat. Everyone in the immediate area who had witnessed this exchange was utterly flabbergasted. The guy on the aisle also started searching for another seat.
Even if it wasn't considered rude in her culture, once I told her that I didn't want her reading over my shoulder, that should have been it. She should have stopped and left me alone, right? What the fuck is wrong with some people? When your obnoxious behavior causes two other people to move their seats, wouldn't you know to settle down? |
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| and if you're interested... |
[Oct. 29th, 2009|12:47 pm] |
I have posted my set from the recent Bearracuda Portland.
If you want all of the tracks separated, click here. Unzip the file and drag the tracks into iTunes. Make sure each track is tagged as part of a gapless album, which they should already be taken care of.
If you'd rather have the set as one long track, go here and right click on BearracudaPortlandOct.mp3 and save it to your computer. |
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| and this shit is getting old quick. |
[Oct. 28th, 2009|08:41 am] |
Facebook is becoming like MySpace in the amount of stupid shit people are wanting me to join or become a fan of.
Every time Facebook changes any little part of their design or functionality, 20 new groups start that are aimed at convincing them to change it back. I have never seen a group of people so afraid of change. They're always named "1,000,000 people to change back Facebook" or "5,000,000 people want the old Facebook," etc. Has a Facebook group ever resulted in Facebook changing anything back to a previous design? I, for one, don't mind the changes. Most of the time I find that my Facebook experience is better after they tweak something.
Do I need to be a fan of your bath and home store that I've never heard of or completed a transaction with? And after I have ignored your request for me to become a fan of your bath and home store 6 or 7 times, you would think that perhaps I wasn't interested in becoming a Facebook Fan of your bath and home store. And if you figured out that I wasn't interested in becoming a Facebook Fan of your store, you would probably stop sending me requests to become a Facebook Fan of your store. But no, I have to ignore your request once or twice a week because there is no way to just block you from sending me these requests.
If you're throwing a party in a location that I'm likely to attend, send your invite my way. Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Vancouver? Sure. I'll consider it. Targeted invites are always welcome. If we know each other pretty well and you have something going on in NYC that is especially important to you, send an invite. I do travel to NYC quite a bit and I might be able to make it. When it's obvious that you just sent the invite to absolutely every last person on your friends list without any regard to location or likeliness to attend, it's pretty annoying.
I left MySpace because it was all shitty indie bands and shittier rap labels wanting to market themselves. Facebook is quickly becoming the new place for SPAM. If you want to promote yourself, post something on your page. Write a status update. Stop being so aggressive about it. That's not what I'm on Facebook for. |
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| and OMG. |
[Oct. 14th, 2009|08:26 pm] |
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Eddie Izzard is on my flight. We're going to spend 5 hours together. I'll try not to make an ass of myself. |
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| and here's an update. |
[Oct. 3rd, 2009|09:28 pm] |
It's been a couple of weeks since I updated. It really doesn't feel like it has been that long. Here's a quick rundown of the past two weeks.
-I saw Sunny Day Real Estate.
-I met Jo Koy, who was super-nice. He told me to hit him up if I'm ever in Los Angeles. He hugged me. He filmed me saying happy birthday to his road manager over the airplane PA.
-I spent five hours with Stevie Wonder. He was also very nice. He accidentally grabbed me on his way to the bathroom.
-I watched Uncle Andy bowl.
-Greg and I spent a night in Seattle and were underwhelmed by the nightlife.
-I heard a small Asian man play "Your Cheatin' Heart" on a ukulele.
-Greg and I had Atheist Movie Night. We watched The God Who Wasn't There followed by Religulous. I really liked the first and Religulous held up well on our second viewing.
-I hiked to the top of Multnomah Falls with Greg and Uncle Andy. Photos are here.
-Greg and I went to dinner with Steven and David instead of going to see The Killers, even though we had tickets. It's the third or fourth time I was supposed to see them and didn't end up going. The last time we actually left the concert before they started playing.
Coming up soon: Bearracuda Portland on Saturday, October 17. It's going down at Rotture once again. Get there early because I'm playing first, followed by Rude Dudes. |
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| and here's a quick update. |
[Sep. 16th, 2009|11:59 pm] |
How far off the rails must Burt Reynolds's life have gone for him to decide to go to rehab at 73? Ride that fucker out, Burt. You're almost dead! The best part is that just yesterday these two guys on one of my flights were telling me how they have a really wealthy friend who has a private plane, and he used to take them from NYC to LA. He would always have these random, old-school celebrities hanging around. These guys had a crazy, coke-fueled flight to LA with none other than Burt Reynolds. Then today on CNN.com I read that Burt is off to rehab. I hope I'm that awesome at 73.
In other news, since I'm not allowed to have my own kitty or doggie, I started donating $25 a month to the ASPCA. I'm awesome. |
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| and Canada let me down. |
[Sep. 13th, 2009|10:40 am] |
Greg whisked me away on a surprise trip to Vancouver this weekend. It's a beautiful city, but I just had a mediocre time. There was a gay street fair right outside of our hotel, and even that didn't make it worth it. The room was fucking amazing, on the top floor of the hotel with a panoramic view of the city. It had a jacuzzi. But a jacuzzi alone cannot save a trip. I've always heard that Vancouver is an amazing city with incredibly hot men. They must have been out of town this weekend. We met a few hot guys, but they were all teases. It was ridiculous. We decided to try to head home to Portland on an earlier flight, so we arrived at the airport 6 hours before our scheduled departure. Apparently Air Canada doesn't allow standbys. We booked through United, and they were going to charge us the difference in fees plus an additional $150 per ticket. So here we sit at Vancouver International Airport, waiting for our original flight. We can't even check in for three more hours, so we can't go through Customs yet. We're sitting outside of security in the food court. This trip just got better and better and is ending with a bang.
But at least I finally got to meet my Goldilocks, Tina. She's my bear hag. She was awesome. We had breakfast together and talked shit about people. My favorite way to spend a morning. |
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| and it's my birfday. |
[Sep. 10th, 2009|08:50 am] |
Happy Sam Storicks Day. I've now entered my Dirty Thirties. So far the celebration of the passing of the last 12 months has been great. Last night Mr. Kerr took me out to Morton's, where I devoured $50 worth of dead cow. The service was almost TOO good. After dinner I half expected them to offer to rub my belly until I pooped.
Greg got me some framed pictures of the two of us, a t-shirt, a hat, a Nikon D3000, and some crazy hi-tech underwear that are odor resistant and quick drying. They're for traveling. You can wash them in a sink and they dry in a couple of hours. I shall do my best to defile them.
Tonight is a very small get-together of some close friends. There will be ice cream and cake and cake. |
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| and if I could fly, I'd pick you up... |
[Sep. 5th, 2009|03:12 pm] |
I miss the good old days when rockstars could sing about statutory rape. You know, wholesome songs like "Into The Night" by Benny Mardones.
"She's just sixteen years old
Leave her alone, they say
Separated by fools
Who don't know what love is yet
But I want you to know
If I could fly
I'd pick you up
I'd take you into the night
And show you a love
Like you've never seen, ever seen"
And who could forget that ode to sweet teenage pussy, "Seventeen" by Winger?
"And just when I thought she was comin' to my door
She whispered sweet and brought me to the floor, she said
I'm only seventeen, but I'll show you love like you've never seen
She's only seventeen, daddy says she's too young, but she's old enough for me"
And then there is the ultimate in pedophile pop, "Father Figure" by George Michael.
"I will be your father figure (oh baby)
Put your tiny hand in mine (Id love to)
I will be your preacher teacher (be your daddy)
Anything you have in mind (it would make me)
I will be your father figure (very happy)
I have had enough of crime (please let me)
I will be the one who loves you
Until the end of time
That's all I wanted
But sometimes love can be mistaken for a crime
Thats all I wanted just to see my baby's blue eyes shine
This time I think that my lover understands me
If we have faith in each other
Then we can be strong"
Please keep in mind that George Michael is a big old queen. He was NOT singing that to a girl. I bet priests beat off to that song regularly. |
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| and life is great. |
[Sep. 2nd, 2009|07:29 am] |
I never figured out what the problem is with my entries after upgrading Movable Type. It allows me to create new entries but it can't find them when I want to manage them. Oh well. Maybe I'll figure it out someday.
Things are pretty awesome here. I've been working a lot lately. Constantly being out of town when I just want to be home in Portland is wearing on me. Commuting down to San Francisco has been rough on me too. I've had thoughts of finding a new job, but I'm going to hold off for awhile. I really do like the job and I won't be able to find a new gig with as flexible a schedule. I'm hoping that once summer is over things will calm down a bit and commuting will be easier, as there will be less people flying. And hopefully once we start flying to Fort Lauderdale in November I will start getting more of what I ask for as far as trips and days off are concerned. So not to be one of those guys who uses airplane analogies when talking about my airline job, but right now I'm in a holding pattern.
Things are great with me and Greg. We're happy campers. He's getting an itch to do some home renovations down in the Mancave, but we're still very happy with our house and with our decision to move to Portland. I love it here. I get incredibly sad when I have to leave for four days to go to work. We have some amazing friends here and I feel like I miss out on a lot of stuff because I've been working every weekend. I've reconnected with one of my friends from my Air Force days who recently moved back to the area. John was another Homosexual Airman in my squadron. We're probably going to drive out to the Coast tomorrow to see the ocean.
My birthday is coming up next week. I'm going to be entering my Dirty Thirties. We're having a little get-together on my birthday and then Greg has all sorts of surprises in store. He's taking me somewhere for the weekend but I have no idea where he intends to take me. He's definitely more excited about my birthday than I am. I mean, I'm excited about it but he's super-stoked about it. He just likes surprising me.
And that is a thoroughly boring update about my life. I'm going to attempt to write here more often. I tweet so much on Twitter that I neglect my sad old blog. |
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| and could someone turn down that ringing? |
[Aug. 19th, 2009|08:52 am] |
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I really wish I had taken better care of my hearing in my first 29 (almost 30) years. Between all of the concerts I've been to, playing bass in several bands, raves and parties, DJing, working around airplane engines, et cetera. my hearing is shit. I have a constant ringing in my ears that drives me insane. Whenever things in my environment are truly quiet, the ringing in my ears is deafening. |
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| and when you experience excellence, you should recognize it. |
[Aug. 11th, 2009|06:16 pm] |
I recently ordered the Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater LEGO Architecture set from Amazon. UPS is doing such an amazing job of delivering it that I wanted to write them a letter.
Dear UPS,
I just wanted to take a moment out of my day to thank you for the amazing job you're doing of delivering my recent order. On August 4th my brand new LEGO set was sent my way from Oak Creek, WI. The next day it arrived in Addison, IL and continued on its way to Hodgkins, IL. There my LEGO set sat for two days, probably tired from its trek from Wisconsin to Illinois. After a healthy rest it made its way to Gray, LA. My LEGO set sent me a message saying that it received an Arrival Scan, then told me there there might be "Possible delay in delivery due to extra carrier processing." Awww LEGO set, I can't wait to see you either! It then received another arrival scan, and then a departure scan.
My LEGO set left Gray, LA on August 7th and spent three days on the road, all the way across the great state of Louisiana to New Orleans. Road weary LEGO set arrived there on August 10th. I think that my LEGO set might have had a bit to drink, but nevertheless made it to Jackson, MS and then all the way to Earth City, MO that same day. On August 11th (that's today!) my LEGO set has had another busy day of travel, arriving in Decatur, IL and then for some reason got lost and made his way back to Hodgkins, IL.
I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you taking good care of my LEGO set on his 8-day road trip. Next time he checks in with you, would you please ask him to stop circling the south and midwest and start making his way west to Portland? I would appreciate it.
Thanks.
Love, Sam.
P.S. Here's a pic LEGO sent me of his travels. Click it to make it bigger.
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| and Lazy Bear kinda sucks this year. |
[Aug. 1st, 2009|08:42 am] |
Greg and I are in Guerneville, California for Lazy Bear Weekend. It kinda sucks. It's great seeing some of our Bay Area friends, but the event itself is kinda meh this year. So far the definite highlight was the Otter Pop party that our friends threw at the house they're renting, and it wasn't even an "Official" Lazy Bear event. Pyro's bonfire was good last night as well, because who doesn't like burning stuff and Jeb's music was excellent. Other than that the good times are few and far between. There was no lasagna party that I know of. John & Chuck aren't having a pool party at their house. It's like everything I really loved about Lazy Bear is over. We've spent more time in our little cottage at Dawn Ranch then we've spent by the pool. There aren't NEARLY as many people as in years past. And Pete Savas is sick with a fever so how can ANYONE enjoy themselves at a time like this?
Greg and I have pretty much decided that we're going to do something else next year. Maybe Bear Week in Provincetown. Maybe something totally different on our own. The shitty economy is ruining everything.
But it IS only Saturday and we're here until Monday. Hopefully today picks up a bit, and I'm sure the pool party tomorrow with Rotten Robbie spinning will be fun. I guess we have to take this year for what it is and try not to compare it with years past. |
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| and it was a hell of a party. |
[Jul. 19th, 2009|02:38 pm] |
Thanks to everyone who came out to the first Bearracuda PDX. It was a great night. My mix from that night can be downloaded here
We've been invited back to throw another party, which will probably be in mid-October. So keep an eye open for more info. |
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| and it's hung. |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|01:46 pm] |
Greg's birthday present came home from the framers while I was gone on my last work trip. Holy shit is it expensive. It cost over $400 to get this print framed. That's almost as much as the print cost. It was totally worth it though. It looks great.
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| and I also ♥ Sunny Day Real Estate. |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|04:01 pm] |
I started listening to Sunny Day Real Estate in 1995 after my friend Jared gave me their Diary CD. I never got a chance to see them live before they broke up, shortly before releasing their second album. The drummer, William, and the bassist, Nate, joined Dave Grohl from Nirvana in Foo Fighters. William eventually left Foo Fighters and rejoined Jeremy and Dan in Sunny Day Real Estate. They released two more albums and then broke up again. I didn't get a chance to see them live that time either. While Nate had some time off from Foo Fighters, he, Jeremy, and William got back together without Dan and recorded and album and toured as The Fire Theft. Dan did some stuff with Chris Carrabba in Dashboard Confessional during that time.
Well now all four original members (Jeremy, Dan, Nate, and William) are reuniting and going on tour. I'm beyond stoked. Greg and I got tickets to see them on September 18th here in Portland. I also have tickets to see them on October 13th in San Francisco, but it is still up in the air whether Greg will be joining me. Needless to say, I'm excited. Sunny Day Real Estate will also be remastering and reissuing their first two albums, Diary and their second untitled album which is known as LP2. They broke up before it was released the first time so they didn't bother naming it or doing any album art. It was just pink.
Here are some other links for SDRE.
In The Blue
Wikipedia
MySpace |
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mixmuttmcnasty's journal
