You're The Last Thing That's On My Mind

Driving home to be with you ... the highway's dividing, the city's in view ... As usual, I'm almost on time ... You're the last thing that's on my mind ... Wish I could tell you, the way that I feel ... but tonight is the night I fell asleep at the wheel ...

Those are the lyrics from a Barenaked Ladies song called "Tonight Is the Night I Fell Asleep At the Wheel". In replacing my Zune (and thusly losing all music so refinding all music), I found this song that I had not heard in ages. I've always loved it because the song itself means something. "You're the last thing on my mind" is something I want someone to think of me in their few last moments. To know I had a wonderful and loving effect on someone so dearly that they want me in their last thoughts is just endearing! The second reason I like the song is because it has this soft melodic music that makes you think the song is about something other than dying in a car wreck ... ha, not funny, but really funny!

Anyway...Yesterday I met Amanda at the gym at SIUE and the deer were out in forces. In fact, at SIUE, they've gotten so used to the humans, they just hang out in the open with the humans. I have a picture of one the fawns that was hanging out in the grass! I saw two others hanging out in the open on my out as well!



I am yet again consuming the breakfast of champions! Yum-um-um!

- Which yields this fine looking superhero to your right -

Now, if you were paying attention, you'll see my really cool friends at work in that picture. Didn't see them? Okay, well here, I'll point them out!


One more thing, today is Canada Day. As you likely know, my blog crush Justin is in Canada! So to him I say, "Happy Canada Day", may it be a merry day. Do whatever it is you do today with great joy! [Ed. Note: I suggest doing whatever it is you do everyday with great joy!] Be sure to check out his blog post, The Story of Canada Day.

Word-
on chill: Having a relaxed state of mind. In chill mode.

Crunk On Gatorade

I started my morning off great! Rode my bike into work, drank Gatorade, and really, does anything get better than Gatorade? I think not!



Anyway, I have two really cool gifts to mail out today. I would post what those are, but the recipients read this so it will just have to be a surprise! I did take photos so that once the recipients receive their gifts, I can share with you!

I posted online for the HOK Life blog, I think you should go check it out! (I of course always think you should check out the HOK Life blog)!

I am a traitor. I went yesterday and bought a lime green iPod Nano to replace my stinking bastard of a music player I once called my beloved Zune. The Zune won't work, and it pissed me off, so I traded sides! The blasted Zune still doesn't work, so I am contemplating driving over it tonight just to get some aggression out of my angtsy bones!

For Drew, here is the Chet the Jet link!

Word-
crunk: Highly intoxicated. Combination of "crazy" and "drunk". Made popular by hip-hop artist Lil Jon.

A New Cooler Week

Here is to hoping the weather guessers have it right and the "heat spell" has subsided!



Different is Not Wrong by Martin Firrell





Pink Zune! What once was my beloved companion has now slung a wrath of fury! I will become a traitor and go the way of Apple you fucking bastard!




Words-
half-your-age-plus-seven: The rule to define the youngest that a romantic interest can be before the relationship is indecent. (ex: if You are 26, you must wait until your romantic interest is 20 (26/2 + 7 =20)!

fivehead: An extremely large forehead. (ex: please refer to any photo of me, I have a giant fivehead often used for odd/unknown men to place their hands and pray, story for another time).

A True Love Affair

I just got back from my midday walk. It was cold outside, but felt good. I like the way the cold encompasses one's face and numbs the extremities. My eyes even watered a little.

I walked to my bench. It's a nice seat located in the grassy area between the Old Courthouse and Interstate. My bench is the Northeastern one! I like that it faces the Old Courthouse. I could have chosen the bench across from it and faced the Arch; but I just love the way the Old Courthouse proudly sits on its well groomed piece of land with something of a modern city sprouted up around it.

I particularly like to go to this location because no one is there. Sometimes its nice to people watch, for which I have alternate locations. For getting away from reality, this bench is the only bench that will do! In fact yesterday, I was forced by grounds crews to go somewhere else. I walked to the Arch and sat, rather laid back and rested my head on some steps behind me. Fortunately the weather is cold enough that there were no tourists! I have to admit that watching the river was a bit calming.

So back to my original story: I sat at my bench today with wind lightly whisping my hair around. I just sat there quietly singing along to my music, which was a mixture due to the fact my Zune was on shuffle where I skipped anything classical because I wanted to sing along. I had a brief fleeting thought that I should write down a note on things that make me happy. I can think of at least three: coldness on face, light winds that whisp my hair just right so I can smell it and feel it brush against my face, and quietly singing aloud to music. Considering my lack of finding much enjoyment with anything lately, it was nice to have that 'happy' thought; fleeting as it may have been.

But seriously back to my original story: As I got up to walk back to my office building, my Zune stopped working. It just stopped. This of course made me freeze in place, reach into my pocket, and gently caress and hold my Zune. I turned her little power button on, and she started up but had forgotten what she was doing. It's okay though, I far too often lose my train of thought! I think she may have been cold, so I held her the rest of the way back to my desk.

The whole ordeal made me laugh to myself, and perhaps even out loud! Point is: I always have music playing. It's either piped to my ears through headphones, or played on speakers, or in the car. The few times I don't listen to music would be when I sleep or watch TV/YouTube/etc. BUT, sometimes I still have my headphones on when I fall asleep, so there's something to be said about that! I know there are times when I don't listen to music, but they are far and few between! I do not know how people get through the days without music. If I don't have music, I sing! It may not be good, in fact it may be terrible, but it's music I like none the less! Very often, I dance too! I have silly sort of dances that I do like a hybrid skank-twist, or my shuffle-skanking! I also waltz, but I do the real thing with my imaginary partner, I didn't make that one up!! I'd make someone really waltz with me, but none of the boys I hang around with know how to waltz! Besides, they are all way too concerned about what people think that they'd be too embarrassed to dance with me!

Back to the original story: I have to say that on this walk back, I did not do any dancing, but a lot of little head tilts. I walked the long way back just to maximize my away time. I got back, and here I am, blogging. I'm extremely sleepy and I need to clean my desk up while waiting for "things" to happen. I also need to make a shopping list of pie ingredients!

You might be wondering where the story went. It started as a story and then just stopped being anything of consequence. I guess I never had a story. I just wanted to say I love music. And as I leave you now, I'm skanking in my desk chair to the Specials (a true love affair)!

Sweet Jeff Tweedy

I was going to write about one of the following: the apocalypse (and my preparedness), Mardi Gras, Teaching at SIUE, or guitars (redemption song and crazy little thing called love). Perhaps I will since I just started writing this today, and since I am really bustin' a move to get a shop drawing submittal out, I will randomly write parts of my blog when I need a break from my yellow hi-liter and red pen. Drew, you recall those days of transferring redmarks for me? Yea, well, I don't have to transfer those marks anymore, I make them once and get my copies scanned these days. It's really a sweet deal going green and all. Anyway, so back to what I was saying, I don't know what I'll get time to write about, it's sort of a crap shoot. For those readers unfamiliar with a 'crap shoot', it refers to a dice game called Craps, where everything is random and based on chance. I know this because my Urban Dictionary from which I give you the word of the day has a website where you can look up such things as crap shoot!

So I did at least want to talk about music for a brief (or rather not so brief) moment. I wanted to say that I really want to go to both Bonnaroo and the NO Jazz Fest this year. Now I have to admit that I really am NOT, let me specify NOT a fan of either. Let me elaborate. Bonnaroo is a smelly music festival for hippies and hordes of unbathed men who travelled in a shoddy van for hundreds of miles to great Tennessee where scary things are bound to happen. I am neither a hippie (another blog, another day), nor a smelly man from a scary horde! The NOJF takes place in possibly one of the smelliest cities in the world, New Orleans. I like it there, it's nostalgic and architecturally rich, and even a little spooky, but ungodly smelly. Not to mention that I think Jazz is A.D.H.D. for music. I love just random odd stuff, but sometimes Jazz is hard to listen to, nothing to follow, no organization, no structure. Jazz that HAS structure is great, without it, oh, my brain spins in all directions trying to make sense of the world! Anyway, now you know how I feel about these festivals, and you are wondering, "if you dislike them so much, why do you want to go"? Let me tell you some people that are playing: Beastie Boys, NIN, WILCO, Elvis Costello, Bela Fleck, Ben Harper, Coheed and Cambria, and Robyn Hitchcock. THAT is just Bonnaroo! Now I would travel a ridiculous length for Wilco, Robyn H. and Elvis C. Seriously I can't say that enough! The others would just be perks so to speak, but damn, Wilco, oh sweet Jeff Tweedy! I just can't say that enough, do you believe me yet? Okay so NOJF: Joe Cocker, DB-Truckers, Wilco, Etta James, B.t Ezra, and enough Zydeco to drive a person batty! Did you see Wilco in that list? I thought you did, do I need to say o' sweet Jeff Tweedy again?? Ok, oh sweet Jeff Tweedy! So there, now you know my over-exhilaration for Wilco and Jeff Tweedy.

So back to the fest's. I won't be going to either of these. Another year perhaps? Anyway, you might be wondering what brought this on, well, I have my Zune on shuffle, and Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah came to play. If you've never heard it, you should, I'll even let you borrow my headphones. Close your eyes, listen to the breath he takes at the very beginning, listen to the strain in his voice, and the lack thereof as well. Listen to the guitar. I don't even know who plays the guitar in this song, but it's heavenly, if such a word can be used to describe it! Oh sweet Jeff Buckley! He unfortunately died because he was stupid enough to step into the Mighty Mississippi and drowned. But I was thinking what a treat it would have been to see and hear him live. I don't want to miss those chances with other musicians such as Wilco.

So that should have been much shorter but I got on a tangent. So I will save my topics, (the apocalypse (and my preparedness), Mardi Gras, Teaching at SIUE, guitars (redemption song and crazy little thing called love), and now hippies) for another day and another blog!

Here's to wishing Rachel yet another 'get well soon'. Shane, stay out of the hospital unless it is of course absolutely necessary. Drew, stop worrying about the piggies. Go out and blog!

Here's the word of the day:
Leave Britney Alone: An exclamation made when your friends or family are teasing you to a point where you can't handle it anymore and a hissy fit is in order. Derived from a YouTube user's famed outburst following Britney's lackluster performance at the 2007 VMA's.

In use:
Chic 1: OMG Susan, I can't believe you wore that skirt two days in a row, and everyone knows what you did with Kevin. And, you are looking a little fat today!
Chic 2: LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE

Celebratory Donut

So a quick shout out to my friend Crystal, as today is her birthday. We are having donuts and monkey bread to celebrate at work for her. I was a little disappointed because she wanted brownies, (and that is one of my favorites as well), but the bakery didn’t have any this morning. Bummer dude!

My friend Mike finally posted his list of 25 random (but not so random) things about himself (in Facebook). I have to admit that I knew a good portion of them. They were great to read none the less, in well articulated verbiage I might add. It’s obvious he took time to carefully express his opinions.

I started a new note on Facebook about a Lyrics game. I learned about it through a blog for work, where the topic was the usage of headphones at work. Anyway, the game so to say is to place your Ipod, Zune, or other music player on shuffle, then write out the first line of lyrics. Post this info as a note and see who can figure out your songs! I thought it was a great little task to add to my regular work day. Since I already have the headphones glued to my ears, I might as well make a game of it right? Well, I posted this note in Facebook but I think I will also post it in MySpace as well, it’s just fun!

Seeing as how I have some shop drawings I have to get out today, and I still have to eat my celebratory donut, I need to get going now. On with the word of the day . . .

Slow your roll:
1. Slow down, be calm. In use: Slow your roll honey. I’m tryin’ to relax in this mutha.
2. Slow down your game, stop coming on so strong to a female. In use: You’d better slow your roll, junior playa, you’ll just get shut down going on like that.

The Road is Singing With Me

There is a stretch of southbound Interstate 55 south of Staunton and north of Edwardsville that sings. I had thought I was imagining this. I was singing quietly to myself, Super Trouper by ABBA, when I heard music. The car radio was off, no one else was making noise and the cell phones weren't ringing. I thought for a moment that it was one of two things. Either my Zune had plugged its headphones in, turned itself on and cranked the volume, OR I was hearing things. Surely I thought it was the first. After what felt like a considerable amount of time, Chris finally spoke up and asked if I heard the music the road was making! I'm sure the expression on my face was a combination of happiness for not being insane, confusion for trying to understand this, and sleepiness. He then mentioned there were grooves in the pavement that made this sort of quiet melodic tone. Ahh I thought, the road is singing with me, how excellent is that?!