leaving this town, pt. 2

i'm back from denver. we left early thursday morning and returned late last night. it wouldn't have been so late, but we had some engine failure before we left, which is exactly the kind of thing you want to hear before you take off into the air for two hours.

we rented a chevy aveo. now, i loved the gas mileage on that car. but wow. i never felt so not in control of a car in my life. once it got to 55, it literally was rattling and on the cusp of disintegration. but we maintained. we had appointments all day thursday with apartment complexs. we saw like six or seven that day. all horrible. horrible. i can't go back to apartment living. there's no way. the rooms were too small. the rent was too high. the place was too run down. all of them. thursday was a major day of defeat. but we regrouped.

on friday, we took to the streets. i drove one corner of denver all day. we stopped and called every sign we saw for rent, no matter what the place looked like, because even if it was a mansion, maybe someone was seriously in need of renters. we hit three possibles. one was amazing and affordable. one was small and affordable. one was huge and not-affordable, but the owner said if it wasn't rented by sunday, the day we were leaving, he'd consider working with us on rent.

the amazing one was already in the process of being rented, by that i mean, the application was sent, but who knows? maybe the guy would disappear. so we held out hope. the small one was dirty and we didn't know why. it had been empty for three weeks. why show it dirty? weird. so we sat and waited.

sunday came. we met the guy at what we were calling the apple house because it has an apple tree in the backyard. we met the guy and walked all the through the house. great house. great basement. apple tree. amazing. garage. everything. he gave us his price and we couldn't do it. but for some reason, he wanted to show us his sister's house, which was very similar to the one we were looking at. so we went over there. while we were there, i got a call from the amazing house. dude's application was accepted and we were out. so i was feeling pretty low at that point. finally the guys asks us again if we want it. and we tell him we can't afford it. so lowers it again. and we take it. we got the apple house. i am going to eat so many mcintosh apples i'm going to be diabetic in a month.

four days driving in a chevy aveo with just me and my wife. we're a great team. i was really proud of her. she was stressed and so was i, but she held firm. so now, let's have our party. and we'll be out of here.

leaving this town

i'm back from illinois. vacations can be stressful. when you're taking a vacation for a funeral, it's even more stressful. there are so many small towns in southern illinois. you wouldn't even know the difference if it wasn't for a sign or a water tower. that's the only way you know.

there isn't much ewok influenced music out there. the ewoks played some solid tunes at the end of return of the jedi. george lucas made the choice to change the music on the re-releases. but if you watch the original, there is a song i called "jub jub" that is fantastic. good beat, good use of rhythm. the ewoks were solid musically.

someone great

we lost two great ones back to back. my great aunt passed away on thursday. and my wife's grandmother passed away yesterday.

the thing i admired most about my great aunt was her attitude. she was resilient. her humor and her good-naturedness radiated from her. she loved life by loving all the simple things. and she made you know she loved you too. she actually bought me a pair of star wars roller-skates. yes, they actually made those. it had darth vader on the side. i'll miss her.

my wife's grandmother was remarkable. she spoke her mind no matter the situation and generally when she spoke, we all stopped and listened. we watched many seinfeld reruns together. last time i saw her was when she, my wife and i watched the college national championship together this year. she started almost every sentence with, "oh, honey....". man, she was funny. we'll miss her too.

black bubblegum

excellent article, and starter for a series dealing with the subject, on income inequality in the united states; how much of a problem it is and where we stand in comparison with other countries.

stevie nicks fajita round-up

i don't know why, but i've brought this up in conversation a lot lately. so i had to see it.

the final countdown

the nfl season starts soon. last year, i picked a new orleans-san diego super bowl. i was confident the whole time in my nfc pick, the saints, but never in the chargers.

this year, i'm confident in my afc pick the baltimore ravens. my nfc pick is mostly a judgment based on last year's performance and that i just don't have a better pick. and that is the green bay packers.

next year's super bowl: the baltimore ravens versus the green bay packers.

on the home front, i think it's going to be a bad year. the texans will slip back to the pack and go 7-9. the schedule is too tough and we can't win the big games. hopefully they prove me wrong.

fitter, happier

my dad was heading out to target or k-mart one night, i've now forgotten which one, ultimately not pressing to the outcome of the story, but if i remember somewhat correctly, k-mart had already been overrun and returned to the emptiness of it's original state... anyway, my dad was heading to a super-store of goods and materials and popped his head in to ask me if i needed anything in the form of super-goods. i told him, "radiohead's ok computer." he gave me a weird look and left. ok computer had just come out that week. i had been a huge fan of the bends. a huge fan. i thought it was one of the best albums i'd ever heard. i lived and died from tracks two through seven and was reborn in street spirit. he returned with ok computer that night. somehow a) he found it and b) target and/or k-mart sold it. i played about fifteen times that night. i was only seventeen and had never logged onto the great expansion of the internet. but i heard the future. it was made of car crashes, buzzing noises, yuppies networking, politiking, suffocation, plane crashes and tourists moving too fast. from time to time, i come back to that album. i still can't get over it. don't lose your nerve.

snowstorm

i sold roxanne. i had that car for 12 years. i was a senior in high school when i got it.

i cannot get over this galaxie 500 album. this thing is simply rotten good. it seems like it doesn't go anywhere, but it does. the subtlety of the album is tremendous. and the cover of george harrison's "isn't it a pity" is crazy good.

i've started going to a kickboxing class twice a week. my hand is swollen from punching the bag. i haven't punched anything this much in my whole life. my hand is not used to this level of punching. lots and lots of punching. there was kicking too. but my foot was okay with that.

this class only makes me appreciate the man that is rocky balboa even more. every time i was tired, i thought, "rocky balboa wouldn't quit." so i didn't quit.

sugar cube

in my stereo right now, i have the following combination:

1. galaxie 500- on fire
2. sonny and the sunsets- tomorrow
3. teenage fanclub- songs from northern britain
4. band of horses- infinite arms
5. television- adventure

now, this weekend i had these albums in heavy rotation. last night, while cooking dinner with my wife, she said to me, "what are we listening to?" and i said, "at the moment, it's band of horses." and she said, "i like it. i like all these albums. they all go together really well." i don't think i'd ever been happier in my life.

also, i stumbled across this yo la tengo video for sugar cube. it's really great.

on my way back home

the "fairwell tour" was a great success. all participants were extremely generous with their time/couches/sodas/towels. it felt great. it felt good to go somewhere and just be myself and not worry about jobs/homes/moves.

i swam at hamilton pool, which was like discovering a new layer of earth.

i swam at barton springs pool.

i found television's adventure, galaxie 500's on fire and grinderman at waterloo records.

i climbed a giant hill and threw rocks at this bridge at four in the morning.

i ate at alamo springs.

i chose band of horse's laredo as the theme song of the trip.

i saw many friends. i saw my dad. i saw deer. i had weird dreams about my car getting jacked.

it was the final adventure/trip before the exodus. it lived up to it's billing. now back to studying/packing and making coffee.

coffee and TV

the whole blur vs. oasis battle of the early to mid 90's made me hate both bands. i thought they were both bands full of copy-cat talentless hacks who used personality to mask the fact they were terrible to mediocre pop songwriters. i believe this still holds true for oasis.

but blur is changing my mind. especially with this album: 13. this album boasts styles galour and music ranging from pseudo-soul to grunge-ish songs to simple melodic confessionals. and of course coffee and TV is basically a perfect pop song.

i liked parklife and i liked the S/T album. but 13 is worth your time.

when you dance you can really love

i passed BEC. that's half of my tests. i have now until august of 2011 to pass FAR, which i'm taking sunday, and REG. half way there.

"you see, you see...he's not a machine. he's a man."

divine comedy

stephen colbert two nights ago:

"news flash: there is no news flash."

still laughing about that.

watched capitalism: a love story yesterday.

today, currently watching maxed out.

our car club

if anyone is interested in a 1998 chevy camaro, let me know. i have one. totally clean and still moving like a champ.

benjamin is currently mashed in between my fortress of albums, two boxes and a trash can. that is cracking me up. i don't even know how he got back there.

i've been listening to bob dylan all morning. his vitriol from albums like highway 61 revisited and, to a lesser extent, blonde on blonde is sprayed across the landscape. the targets are wide ranging and varied between people and establishments. with blood on the tracks, it's totally directed at one person. now, whether that one person is actually one person or a combination of many persons together that form one target is debatable. but i love the directness of the album. he is scorned, confused, angry and somewhat embarrassed and trying to hide behind these emotions. i have a version of tangled up in blue that will make your mind melt. what am i talking about? this is the internet. here it is. look for the version called demo. listen for the buttons on his coat hitting the guitar. it's amazing. the whole tone is different. this one is sarcastic almost, covered in an apathetic nature. completely dispassionate and indifferent. i love it.

there goes the sun

is there a market crash coming? will we feel the september blues again this year? the WSJ is contemplating as i am typing this right now!

i ate two donuts this morning. which proved to be two too many.

here is a ben bernanke action figure.

evolution really failed us by not giving us gills.

the great secret of our times: celebrity lives are actually quite boring says joe alasky.

summer mood

this might not be the best album of the year, but it might be the most fun. look at that cat!!

modern man

the guys at the burning platform and the ultimate chinese bubble.

excellent quick video on the circumstances surrounding japanese deflation in the 1990's and the contrasts with the current u.s. situation.

matthew simmons died yesterday. i've quoted him several times on the blog regarding peak oil production. i saw him speak one time at the museum of fine arts after a video. he was poignant and matter-of-fact and his point landed with me. too bad he's gone.

i need to fix my printer. who fixes printers? i can't print. it's quite vexing.

the suburbs

i've listened to it about six or seven times now. i find it overbearing, suffocating and utterly humorless. and i love it. i absolutely love it!

barstool blues

i played volleyball yesterday for the first time in about fifteen years. think about that. that's half my life i went without playing volleyball. that was a good streak that ended yesterday. the only other streak i had similar to that was a vomit-less streak from 1993 to 2000. i vomited the morning of the epic oilers loss to the bills in the playoffs. i vomited before the game, as most people vomited after the game. then in 2000, i randomly got some stomach thing and ate a spicy chicken sandwich from wendy's and that was it man. the streak was over.

random streak:
1) volleyball-less 1995-2010
2) vomit-less 1993-2000
3) james bond-less... my whole life

that's right. i have never, ever seen a james bond movie. never. that's the new streak.

i saw leatherbag play this weekend. twice. i tried to get as many people as i could to the saturday show. i succeeded in bringing one. i even titled the email i sent to everyone "super karate monkey death car." i received a lot of confused responses. marketing is not my thing. i would consider just bringing one person a major accomplishment seeing as how i really only hang out with my wife and a cat. the shows were great though.

the astros traded roy oswalt and lance berkman this past weekend. it's kind of a big deal because the last time they traded a veteran at their peak-ish was glenn davis in 1991. i was 11. so it's been a while. i hope they can rebuild and get back to the world series. i don't want to be one of those people telling other people that so-and-so died without ever seeing the astros get the world series. because all that person has to do is say, "so did everyone else in the history of you the world, you ass!" and they would be completely correct in their assessment.

thank you for making me beg

now that i've got all the time in the world, i decided to embark on a maddening journey into out of print records. it didn't start that way. it started with an interest in bands like game theory and the apartments. but it quickly evolved when i found out that both bands have zero records currently in print.

maybe i should just get a couple badfinger records.....

on another note, the current record for most grapes i can fit in my mouth is 17.