Idea Worth Spreading

Donnas Overload

As I'm working on my contract work, I spin CDs. I found the Donnas. Wow. I forgot how much I like them.

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Life Moving Along

Lots of time being spent on contract work. Typical day is 8-4:30 at regular job and 9-12 @ night on contract work. I like doing the contract work.

This week is busy. What week isn't?

1. Monday - drums/sax
2. Tuesday - Nothing! (hard to believe!)
3. Wednes - Ash Wednesday Mass @ 6; New season of Real World @ 9!
4. Thurs - Alex's final basketball game
5. Friday - Nothing! (hard to believe!)
6. Saturday - Lunch with BSS; 5:15 Mass; relaxing
7. Sunday - Lunch with someone; relaxing
8. Monday - work 8-4:30; donate blood @ 5; contract work
9. Tuesday - work 8-4:30; contract work
10. Wednesday - work 8-4:30; contract work
11. Thursday - work 8-4:30; contract work
12. Friday - work 8-4:00; go visit in-laws in Waterloo
13. Saturday - return home; Kids serve @ 5:15 Mass
14. Sunday - Youth Rally

Dissimulated - New Favorite Drummer... and Tom Sawyer Cover

Elephant Ears / Sex Offenders . . . Related?

In other news, I tend to lean Republican. Not totally in love with every policy they have and that's okay. This is a website that lists Republican sex offenders. Read at your own risk.

305 to Go

I think that there are a lot of times in life where I relish being able to just pause.

Then I rush off to the next thing that must be done.

Godsmack

This is one of my personal favorite songs by Godsmack.

Listen to that groove at 2:40! SO NICE and tight between the guitar and drummer Shannon Larkin...

Just Another "Oh MY! I'm SO BUSY" type post...

Today came and went. I spent a couple of hours doing my contract work, then we went to 11 AM Mass. I played drums with the high school group and that was a lot of fun. I like to play drums for them because there is a nice vocal performance in my ears when I play. It gives me more energy, in a way, to play with them. I liked the set list of songs and that makes Mass even better.

After Mass, we went to eat. The four of us had the brunch and it was an early indication of what our restaurant bills will look like as the kids exit being on the kids menu and instead are the same price as Karen and I. Not a big deal; just kind of something I thought about.

After breakfast, Megan took us for a drive that included a few miles on I-80. Some chick with a New York license plate didn't like the way Megan entered the interstate and honked her horn at us. Karen was in the front seat for this little excursion.

When we got home, our former neighbor Dave called. He had brought a giant TV from Kansas City to North Liberty and needed help carrying it down the steps. We visited for awhile after that and then returned home.

At home, we putzed around. I was going to watch TV but it didn't seem like there was any time because the next thing I knew, it was time to go to Alex's basketball practice.

When we got home from that, we had supper, played a game of rummy, and then I came down here to write about my day.

This coming week is busy but more on that as the week unfolds.

A Week... Really?

Has it been a week since I sat down here in the den and wrote about life? It's crazy when I put it to myself in that way.

This was the week of band concerts. Megan had her concert band performance on Tuesday, Alex had his concert band performance on Thursday, and Megan had her jazz band performance last night. There is a renewed interest in insisting the kids practice their instruments. New rule: practice 5 out of 7 days a week with the week starting on Saturday. Kids just don't become musicians with a 1/2 hour of a lesson a week. Time has to be invested.

I wish, in some ways, I had that sort of oversight when I was younger. I took snare drum lessons (and then drumset lessons) for years and I never practiced. I wanted to be Peter Criss (KISS) or Liberty DeVito (Billy Joel) but I did not want to put the time into it.

I hope I can teach my kids to want it.

And my comment about having a repairman look @ the dryer? Didn't happen. Our new washer/dryer should be in our house in no less than 3 hours.

Done Deal

What a long and eventful day... but it doesn't feel like I did much.

First, went to Shueyville to turn our taxes in to our tax lady.
Second, drove to see my mom in the nursing home.
Third, visited my dad and got his laptop to access the internet with AOL dial-up. GAG!
Fourth, saw the latest Harry Potter movie.
Fifth, stopped at 1/2 Price Books and got MASH Season 2 on DVD and Metallica's Death Magnetic both for under $12.
Sixth, drove home and went to 5:15 Mass.
Seventh, bought a new washer and dryer @ Sears.
Eighth, ate supper at Chilli's.
Ninth, listened to the new Bayside.
Tenth, found out that Emily's graduation party may not be on 5/21 so it's possible I may be able to see Bayside in Des Moines on 5/21. That would rock my world...
Eleventh, watched this video

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The Night

Sometimes, I just do not like the night. You go to bed and the world makes sense and you wake up to chaos.

I went to bed ~10:00 last night, maybe a bit later. Karen was watching "Say Yes to the Dress" and a new "Four Weddings" was going to be on after that. I have zero interest in either show. I went and laid down in bed. The next thing I know, it's 7:15 AM. Karen says, "Guess what? The dryer doesn't heat up."

The dryer for all I know worked when I went to bed. Strike one for the world not making sense.

I get up and walk by the living room. Megan is on the couch watching TV. She says to me, "I can't hear out of my left ear."

Her ear for all I know worked when I went to bed. Strike two for the world not making sense.

I go downstairs to the den. At this point I'm thinking this is all a crazy coincidence and some new Bayside will put life back on the right track. New Bayside? Why yes. Yesterday, I made contact with Bayside's new record label and received a promo of Bayside's new release! I can listen to it by streaming, a technology I am not all that familiar with, but it was purely awesome. I listened to some of the songs yesterday. Bet you know where this is going. The link to the promo location worked fine. I even emailed my editor and asked about running a 'day of release' review on Tuesday. Sure, send a review by Sunday and we'll run it. I fire up my PC, click the link (that worked yesterday) and "ERROR! Cannot read server."

What the hell.

I tried it on a separate PC and nope. Broken.

There it is. I went to bed last night with all of the above things in life making sense and during my restful sleep - I was tired obviously - I did not have anything to do with anything breaking or suddenly not working. Yet, I wake up to chaos and uncertainty.

We'll probably call a repair guy to look @ the dryer on Monday. Megan's ear will hopefully clear up without a visit to the doctor. The link to the promo will hopefully be rsolved soon.

Sweet BB Play

Death and Bayside

18 Things to Go

I have accumulated 19 things I wanted to post to this blog. The things that I want to write about go through a wide range of subjects. The first comes from the Culture Loves Us blog and is one of my favorite things in life: a comic that does not shy away from the controversial issue of race. Careful treading - foul language.

There is NO tommorrow

Live life as if you won't have another chance to live the day because, frankly, it is true. You only have one day to live the day.

I took Alex to the Iowa men's basketball game. Iowa lost in OT to Wisconsin. WI is ranked #12 or #14 in the country. They are a good team. Iowa had a 7 point lead but couldn't keep it. Good effort, just came up a little short.

MN is in for a fight on Sunday in Carver Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa Dominates!

It was amazing. The score was 72-52 at an Iowa Hawkeye men's basketball game. This season, you would be correct (normally) if you said that Iowa was the 52 point team, especially if it's MSU that is the opponent. Instead, last night, the Iowa men's team defeated MSU 72-52. It was beautiful. I laughed at how well the team played. Gatens passed the ball slightly ahead of Eric May who took the ball and jammed it. Another time, Cole swiped the ball away from MSU, took it and jammed it. Gatens had a breakaway jam. It was fun to watch them. MSU cut the lead down to 15 before they ran into a dry stretch and Iowa escalated their defense. The next game is Sunday and it's at Indiana, the team Iowa defeated to get their first conference win. They are playing spoiler now. they will not be expected to do well in the Big Ten tournament.

Old Man / Old Woman Joke

The husband leans over and asks his wife, "Do you remember the first time We had sex together over fifty years ago? We went behind this very tavern where you leaned against the back fence and I made love to you."

"Yes, she says, "I remember it well."

"OK," he says, "How about taking a stroll around there again and we can do it for old time's sake?"

"Oh Charlie, you old devil, that sounds like a crazy, but good idea!"

A police officer sitting in the next booth heard their conversation and, chuckling, thinks, I've got to see these two old-timers having sex against a fence. I'll just keep an eye on them so there's no trouble. So he follows them.

The elderly couple walks haltingly along, leaning on each other for support aided by walking sticks Finally, they get to the back of the tavern and make their way to the fence. The old lady lifts her skirt and the old man drops his trousers. As she leans against the fence, the old man moves in. Then suddenly they erupt into the most furious sex that the policeman has ever seen. This goes on for about ten minutes while both are making loud noises and moaning and screaming. Finally, they both collapse, panting on the ground.

The policeman is amazed. He thinks he has learned something about life and old age that he didn't know. After about half an hour of lying on the ground recovering, the old couple struggle to their feet and put their clothes back on.

The Policeman, is still watching and thinks to himself, this is truly amazing, I've got to ask them what their secret is.

So, as the couple passes, he says to them, "Excuse me, but that was something else. You must've had a fantastic sex life together. Is there some sort of secret to this?"

Shaking the old man is barely able to reply, "Fifty years ago that wasn't an electric fence."

Ambitious Goals

My goal is to reach 1000 posts by 12/31/2011. How crazy is that? Only crazy b/c I don't know that I have that much to say. Two self-imposed rules: no single sentence entries - each entry must be long enough that it makes sense so don't expect one word entries just to make a quota. The other rule is that it can't just be a series of youtube videos - I want CONTENT! - so that I can look at this as an accomplishment, not just a way to fill in cyberspace.

That all said, I made a startling discovery. I kept an Excel file that lists all my CDs and DVDs and music and I knew it had been a while since I had updated it. I create a new file for the current year by copying the previous year's file and renaming it to the current year. I just created Tapes11.xls (from Tapes10.xls). Guess what the modified date/time was on Tapes10.xls?

1/1/2010.

I kid you not. I went a year and one month (to the day) without updating my Excel file. I don't know if that is a sign that I shouldn't care what I have or if it means that I will never be able to get caught up. I'll stew about it for a bit. I do know I have 13,000+ MP3s on my external HD and assembling those files into my existing layout will be a challenge. Plus, I have ripped various CDs to MP3 (and onto the external HD) so I can listen to them without physically having the CD. How do I accommodate that? Do I artificially inflate my total count just because I wanted to be able to hear Mothermania, Count the Stars, Bayside, and countless other favorite bands from my external HD and not have to carry a physical CD of it? I'm not sure how the MP3s fit into the paradigm of spindles of CD-Rs. And here's the issue. I want to listen to Lamb of God's "New American Gospel." It is on spindle A20, according to the list I have. Is that really where it is? How outdated was the list when I stopped updating it?

Deaf Peds

I was going through some music files and found this gem:

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Then I found this:

Quiet

It's quiet on a Sunday AM @ 8:59. I am starting my contract work right.... now....

Serial Commas Rock

When you are writing a list of things and it is not apporpriate to use a numbered list like this:

1. blah

2. blah

3. blah

You probably would use a sentence structure like this:

I like Metallica, Five Finger Death Punch, and Godsmack.

Notice in the second example, I inserted a comma (,) between "Punch" and "and". This is called the serial comma. I think the serial comma rocks. I think that the following example is the perfect reason to always use a serial comma. Period.

"... those interviewed were his two ex-wives, Kris Kris... and Robert Duvall." The two ex-wives is an item in the list, Kris Kris..., is an item in the list, and Robert Duvall is the third item in the list.

If you were to put these into a numbered list, you'd really have this:

1. two ex-wives

2. Kris Kris...

3. Robert Duvall

Do you see this difference? I hope so. It is the last time I want to explain to you that the serial comma rocks.

UNDEFEATED!

No, not talking about OSU men's basketball. I'm talking about Alex's basketball team. They won last week so they are UNDEFEATED! How fantastically awesome to start the season off with a BIG W! It has increased the confidence level of the players. They expect to win tonight in our 7:30 contest. They expect to do well. They know that to do well, they must play good defense. DEFENSE! for the UNDEFEATED!

The Numbers Game

I dealt blackjack from ~7:00 to 10:00 last night. It was fun. I had a good table. My right shoulder hurts. I hope we get to do it next year. It's challenging for me to do it because I am not a numbers person. I really am not. And I don't know the rules of Blackjack to the mastery level that I should. If I would have had done a terrible job, then I don't think the people that stayed at my table and played, literally, every hand I dealt would have stayed at my table. There were 4 people like that. They helped me when I had to give them their winnings and doing double down and how to do all that. Like I said, if I would have sucked, they would have gotten up and left.

This morning, I am contemplating the definition of frustration. The definition of frustration is totally just watching money evaporate. I should be working my contract work on a PC in CR - I remotely connect through logmein.com - but for whatever reason, there's an issue with my PC in CR. I have been downstairs, in the den, since 8:00 AM and just watching my hourly rate disappear into thin air. I was expecting to put in hours today and tomorrow AM, but if I cannot connect to the PC, I cannot do any work. In one sense, I guess, it's okay because now I won't be tempted to do more work when I should be enjoying the weekend and actually relaxing a bit.

My schedule is hectic, as I have written about previously. I am typically up working until midnight and then turn around and get up @ 6 AM. Today was a luxury - I slept until 7. I like the paycheck that comes a couple of times a month and that's fantastic. I like the actual work I'm doing - always have - so that's okay. I sit in the den and listen to good music so I like that. But sometimes I question whether it is really worth it. I also question how long it can continue (the contract work) and how long I can continue (the less than 8 hours/sleep nightly) before something gives like my healthy disposition.

It's not possible to really think or consider it all today since it is now 8:48 AM, Alex didn't clear the couch of clean laundry, Megan comes home from a sleepover ~10 and Karen's folks arrive ~11-ish (that's a guess).

The rest of the day is a planned trip to CR. My plan is to meet @ Mark, Jonathan, and Tyler @ Westdale Bowling. I will drive up with Lou, Alex, and Megan. My plan would be for Susie to drive from CR to NL, which from Westdale Bowling, even a blonde cannot mess up.

We are going to 5:15 Mass and the talk has been to not play drums this week. Keith and Rhonda are not going to be there and guitarist Jim is having eye surgery. The set list is actually pretty good so I may end up playing, but we'll have to see. Maybe Susie will sing with us like she did last time. Who knows? Otherwise, I may just actually sit in the congregation.

I pulled out Pantera's "The Great Southern Trendkill" and wow. That is an aggressive piece of work. Lots of cussing and powerful music. I like it.

It's now 8:54. I can hear Karen in the shower so I'd better get out of here and get moving.

Extraneous Lyrics

Back to Busy, but not even Busiest

This is not complaining about my life. It is very full and exciting. There is always something that needs to be done. For example, schedule for today through next Sunday is as follows:
Sunday...

• Going to CR to see Unstoppable at the Collins Road Theater
• Visiting my mother
• Home by 4:30 so Alex can get to 5:00 basketball practice and I can get to my meeting in Riverside by 6
• Home by 8 for new Desparate Housewives
• Contract work to end the evening

Monday

• Work 8 hours
• Sax/Drum lessons
• Contract work to end the evening

Tuesday

• Work 8 hours
• NOTHING @ Night
• Contract work to end the evening

Wednesday

• Work 8 hours
• NOTHING @ Night
• Contract work to end the evening

Thursday

• Work 8 hours
• Alex's basketball game is @ 8:30
• Contract work to end the evening

Friday

• Work 8 hours
• Help at a casino night holiday party

Saturday

• Celebrate Mother-in-Law's birthday with family

Sunday

• Celebrate Mother-in-Law's birthday with family
• Alex is going snowboarding on a bus trip

Then it starts all over again, but add in Megan's Religious Education class on Wednesday.

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I lean Republican. I cannot stand watching MSNBC for extended periods of time. Keith O is not someone I subscribe to as having a lot of credit in how I view the world. Listen to as much of the following as you can. He talks about how Republicans need to eliminate anyone that presents the idea that violence of any kind is okay, how Democrats need to eliminate anyone that presents the idea that violence of any kind is okay and with those ideas, "eliminate" means to remove them from political events for their party. He points to Sarah Palin having bullseyes on specific people on her website. He says that if she doesn't remove that from her website, then she needs to be removed from her party's politics. I have to agree with him, to that extent. I think that violence is not acceptable. I could tell you stories about fights I was in during elementary, junior high and high school. It sucks. I hated it. I digress. Violence is not something anyone should have to go through and Keith O makes that point.

Cuteness

I saw this on the Culture Loves Us blog:

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And in other news, Unstoppable is @ the Collins Road Five theater. It is the movie about Denzel Washington and another guy stopping a runaway train.

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THE WORST TOUR EVER!!

If you've paid attention, I've griped about bands that play KC, then the Twin Cities, then Milwaukee, then Chicago, then St. Louis and then head east or bands that are coming from the east that follow the reverse course and do St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Twin Cities, and KC. Those bands skip Iowa, where I live. I know Iowa does not have a huge share of CD sales, but we are music fans. Soulfly guitarist Marc Rizzo is going on a solo tour. These are a few of his dates:

1/7 Dayton, OH @ McGuffy’s House Of Rock
1/8 Sandusky, OH @ The Underground
1/9 Cleveland, OH @ Peabody’s
1/11 Warren, MI @ The Ritz
1/12 Rockford, IL @ Bar 3
1/13 Milwaukee, WI @ Miramar Theatre
1/14 Peoria, IL @ The Brass Rail <==
1/15 West Hollywood, CA @ Viper Room <==
1/18 Lincoln, NE @ Knickerbockers <==

Look at these last three dates. Granted, yes, there are 3 days between West Hollywood, CA and Lincoln, NE, but still! That's an AWFUL tour schedule, unless the gig at the Viper Room is opening for a secret Metallica gig or something like that. Otherwise, what the hell was the tour manager thinking when they agreed to this ridiculous route?!?

Three Things Tonight...

1. Lorenzo is a band I saw at Waterstock in Des Moines a few years ago. Their CD is really good - recently spent some time getting reacquainted with it. The lead singer was also in a band called Echo Park and I spent some time with that band as well. I like Lorenzo better. If Lorenzo was a natural progression of Echo Park, then whatever Lorenzo becomes will be sensational.
2. I stumbled upon Angry Metal Guy and while he thinks the f-bomb is a necessity in his writing in the same vein that Eddie Murphy did during the "Delirious" concert, I still found his opinions to be interesting. I also find it interesting that a lot of the bands written about are ones I've never heard of. I considered myself 'with it' as far as bands go, but this 'angry metal guy' made me feel like I hadn't listened to metal for as long as I have.
3. Finally, came across a website where you can download entire albums of heavy metal bands at Free Metal Albums. I downloaded ArtCell - Aniket Prantor (No Man's Land) and wow... it's sung in a language called Bangla. I have no idea what they're singing about. The first couple of tracks didn't trip my trigger, but I resolve to spend more time with them as I sit at my PC in the den.

In other news, work is going good. I feel more at home, which is refreshing. Things are turning into a reasonable pattern. On top of that, I am doing contract work for my previous employer so I am quite busy. It is only going to get busier as next week Alex's final basketball season begins. I hope we do well in our final session.

How to Give Up Pop

I drink Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Live Wire (the orange) and I drink them daily. Giving them up is one of those things that I know I should do, but it never gets done. This video is a clear-cut solution, but life is rarely clear-cut. I know my friend Brad dropped drinking a lot of pop.

The Start Begins

It's a new era in my life. The sun is shining, Spitalfield is playing, and frankly, I feel great. I didn't cut loose last night. I don't plan to do so in 2011, a New Year's resolution, if you believe in them. I don't think I do. I'm more of a 'change the lifestyle because the old lifestyle isn't helpful to me' type of person. I don't need "1/1/11" to decide, "I'm going to do more of X, I'm going to eat less of Y." or declarations like that. No one keeps their New Year's resolutions. No one remembers what they swore so emphatically today in six months. Why bother?

Instead, I'll go on record and say I am going to have a much better 2011 than 2010. Period. I am going to take the necessary steps to ensure my life is the way I want to live it. I will do so by making small steps in the direction I want to go. I understand fully that some of the decisions I make have an impact on others. Fine. I also understand that I only have one life. This is it. This is the only life I get to live. If I want to live it the way I want, I no longer consider it selfish or self-centered. You, reading this, have that power. Perhaps you consider it too difficult to make a change in your life, that you are firmly entrenched in the patterns and routines that have defined your life. I would rather define my life first, then come up with the patterns and routines that help me carry out how I have defined my life. I see a subtle difference in the way I phrase that concept.

Welcome to 2011. Without a doubt, I feel the most empowered by my disposition and attitude. I am hopeful that the start begins today and carries through for longer than 1 month or 2 months or 3 months. I want it to last so that when I sit in front of this PC on 1/1/2012, I can reread this and think back to what I feel right now and feel comforted by the fact that I did what I said I was going to do in 2011.