What a rollercoaster this past week! I took the week off hopin' to get out to Arizona and paint me dad's house but it didn't work out (that's the motif of my life lately it seems. That whole not workin' out stuff). So I had the whole week off anyways and I hoped to enroll in UMKC and get a mess o' cleanin' done. I did clean a bit but I was thwarted by the bueracracy of administration and did not enroll. I hope to avail over said red tape on Monday. I'm really tryin' hard to get over that artist-girlie but she sure does have a death grip on my heart and it's proving to be difficult. I actually hung out with her and her new beau on Friday night and I was pissed to discover that I actually like him. Whattayagonnado? I still love her a mess and I count her among my short list of close friends. I was hopin' to get to that penguin movie but to no avail. Perhaps I'll spend some time in a cool darkened theater manana. I matched wits with good friend of mine over a close game of Scrabble only to lose by two goddamn points! I also had some drunken nights on my Mexican neighbor's porch. They were gracious enough to pretend that my Spanish is permissable. I was perturbed to find some live 9mm rounds on their porch as I know they dabble in low level dealings. I reckon I'll not drink with them too much anymore. I bought that Blacklisted Neko Case album today and that is some good stuff. That's a woman I need in my life. How beautiful and haunting her music is. And speakin' of beautiful and haunting music, if you don' know who Alejandro Escovedo is then shame on you. Pick up a record of his soon. Allright then. I s'pect that's 'nough for now, dig?

Still nothin' t'report. Just a mess o' worry mixed in with m' studies 'n' m' work. I'm not sure of how t' get free of th' worry short o' seein' a therapist 'r somethin'. (which i don't want to do. I'm horrible enough with my money and I don't need to add whatever my copay is on top of all of that.) I'm happy t' say m' plants is still goin' strong. It gets harder 'n' harder t' find anythin' interestin' t' report. I lead a rather borin' life, I reckon.

Anyone else goin' to that Tenderloin reunion show at Davey's on Saturday? Should prove funny if nothin' else. I wish I had more to report. Just a mess of schoolin' and workin'. I tells you, it was hot in my place after not being there for six days with the window unit off. My aloe and chicks'n'hens liked it though. I didn' even have to water them all week. I did have to go by and water my tomato and flowers though. Man, it's a slow news day with me eh? Nothin' interestin' at all. Sorry for borin' the pants off y'all (that is if I still have readers).

Well I reckon that's that. We couldna make each other happy. I hope we can grow and come back together again in the near future 'cause I think we had a really good foundation but I reckon we ain't right for each other at this moment. In other news, my brother called today and told me they're stayin' in LA for two more days. And this of course means two more days of me living in the lap of luxury at his place! Two more days of A/C and cable and video games and cuddly kitty. (next man calls me a pussy for sayin' that 'bout the cat is gonna tangle with me and brother, I'm bad.) My brother has the first season o' Scrubs on DVD and that shit is funny, yo! I was really skeptical after hearin' every 39th Street quirky midtown hipster girl rave 'bout Zach Braff and that goddamn "tearjerker" comedy movie he made (which I secretly like), but I watched it and it is some really funny stuff. (well, if my man card didn't already have a punch in it from the kitty coment, I reckon it does now.) Anyway, hope y'all had a pleasant weekend.

Sorry 'bout that folks. I reckon everyone's prone to bouts of self-doubt and it would appear (although previously unthought of) that I am no exception. I try to avoid them pity parties but sometimes they'll creep up on youse, dig? I just needed to step back, take a breath and see what's really goin' on here. Anyway, bumps in the road is good for relationships yeah? And I'm certainly not one to shy away from a challenge. Enough 'bout that. I cannot wait to house sit for me brother this weekend what with his central air, digital cable (with all them movie channels), washin' machine and dryer (I don' know if I can remember how t'operate them things without puttin' some quarters in foist) and cuddly cat. That's right. I said "cuddly cat." I'm secure enough to recognize when un gato is cuddly and it's a good thing. Y'all may not hear from me these next coupl'a days as I'll be watchin' movies in frigid environs and...playin' video games! I forgot 'bout his PS2! Ha! My brother should leave more often!

Havin' a rough time of things here. I'm tryin' to keep it together but this shit keeps gettin' stacked higher on top of our relationship. I don' even remember the last time we were close in any way. I know we're tryin' but nothin' seems to be gettin' better. And do I bow out like my folks did or man up and find out how to fix this. I really do not like to give up, but how much am I s'posed to take. Why do I always have to do what's right? What has integrity gotten me so far? I'm gonna explode if I hear how nice and sweet I am again.

I reckon anyone in a group with me saw me posts but I'll put it up here tambien:
All y'all miscreants in the Kansas City area should know 'bout two upcoming shows not to be missed this weekend. First, you got Kansas City's ownRex Hobart and the Misery Boys at Davey's Uptown Ramblers Club on Friday, July 1. Then, you gotWayne "The Train" Hancock at Knucklehead's Saloon on Monday, July 4. Not to be missed!

Now I's gonna go on 'bout me trip to Dallas. We all leaves the weddin' reception around eleven and one of our high school buddies that used to live there tells us a friend of his is playin' in some 80's dick metal band in Deep Ellum (Deep Ellum bein' the entertainment district of Dallas). As we are all either on the darker side of twenty or early thirties and we wouldn't mind going home, he promises us this place is five minutes away and he knows right where it is and how to get there. After getting lost first, we find ourselves sitting in standstill traffic two hours later. Deep Ellum, we come to find out, is not the place to get somewhere in five minutes on a Saturday night in the summer. Those of you in KC, have you ever tried to leave Westport at three in the morn on a Saturday in the middle of July? That is what this is like all night in Deep Ellum only worse. Needless to say, everybody is mad at Mitch (the "navigator" and brains behind our little excursion) and Mitch is mad at everyone for being mad at him. I am sitting in front of Mitch (this fact will come in handy). My brother, tryin' to lighten the mood, tells Mitch "Y'know, to make you feel better, y'oughta hit Josh." Mitch takes him up on this and punches me full force in the back of my head. The sinus headache I already had jumps up a few notches and I feel my blood begin to boil as I tell him not to hit me again (somehow still remaining calm). To which he punches the back of my head again. I accidentally elbow Nate (another one of our high school buddies sitting next to me) as I go over the back seat and onto Mitch. He shields himself quite well from my blows but I connect a few good ones before I regain my composure and sit back down. We finally park to go into the bar and I've managed to scare the shit out of all my old high school friends as they say nothing to me. On the way to the bar I go over and apologize to Mitch for punchin' him and he does the same. And that quick all is forgotten and we're off to hear shitty songs covered by an even shittier band. It never ceases to amaze me how guys can beat the shit out of each other one minute and the next be best friends with them. Crazy.

Thanks all for the birthday wishes. Spent the day napping and watching the new Batman movie and then went out to the Point for some drinks. Low key but that's how I dig it these days.
I spent the weekend in Dallas for a buddy's weddin'. Those in the know will stay away from Deep Ellum in Dallas on a Saturday night. Drivin' back on Sunday I witnessed the a rather horrendus wreck. South of Oklahoma City me brother and I were cruisin' along at eighty and there was a truck pullin' a horse trailer twenty feet in front of us passin' some blue SUV. I notice the trailer start to drift to the right, not pivot, while the truck stayed it's course which meant the trailer had become unhinged. I start to brake knowin' this will all turn out bad and sure enough it sideswipes the SUV and both start to slide and turn 45 degrees to the left. The trailer starts flipping and the SUV's wheels finally grab and sends itself barrellin' into the truck, pushin' both into the median. I've all but stopped at this point and I see both people get out of their vehicles. That's when I notice my brother freakin' out and sheilding his eyes. He says he doesn't want to see what the horse looks like. I look to my right and see it limpin' around so at least it's entrails weren't strewn about the tarmac. However it looked like its leg was broken and doesn't that mean it'll most likely be put down? (it's been quite awhile since I moved to the city and I haven't worked with livestock in quite some time.) Crazy wreck. I was starting to feel a little drowsy before that and was about to ask me brother to take over the helm, but after that I was as alert as could be. We were both pretty quiet for a coupla hours, just sayin' "man, that was fucked up" every few minutes or so. Who woulda thunk that Oklahoma could be so suspensful?

Still alive folks. Spanish class and night crew managin' and psuedo-break ups will really eat your time away. I saw my friends' band play Sunday at P. Ott's. I am refering of course to the Missouri Bull Taco Assn. Ol' Uncle Gil, Whitey, Cutler and Ernie did allright for their first gig. However, the Black Diamond Heavies really blew them outta the water. Them's a three piece featurin' drums/organ/guitar'n'harp (that's harmonica, white guy, not the thing on your Guiness label). I was ready for some straight whitebreadericclapton90.1rockin-blueshammer bullshit but these boys put it down, now. The cat on the keys (who, incidentally, looks exactly like Ronnie Dobbs, complete with trucker hat and sleeveless shirt) knew what the fuck he was doin'. They from Nashville and I recomends that if you make it down there or they trek back here, you look them up. They had sounded as if Muddy Waters sat in with Lightnin' Hopkins to cover Tom Waits (you figure it out). It was a really good boy's night out; I really needed some serious guy time after the fuckin bomb that got dropped on me Saturday night (I say "bomb" but we both need some time to breathe and slow down I thinks). It reminded me of the good ol' days 'fore I went and got all responsible-like (I even played hooky from school today). The hops and the black milk and the lister-beam was flowin' in abundence and even the fuckheads that I thought I never wanted to see again looked a little less threatenin'. All is well, all considered (now if I can just get the women-folk to just quit callin' me a "nice guy" or "so sweet.")

Howdy, y'all! It's been a while but I've got a few spare moments to update. I had the best weekend last week. We started it off at the grimiest dive bar in Kansas City (D.B. Coopers) on Friday where some bagpipin' shriners came in, played some tunes, and then sat down for a beer and to flirt with the girls I was with. Then Saturday I did some side work fabricating and installing this lady's kitchen countertops. Everything that could've went wrong did, but I work really well under pressure and it's fun to be challenged and gives one a sense of worth when the know how fucked up things were and how you made it better (plus all the profits went to me). Honestly though everyone, next time y'all have someone over to install some tops, don't go out and buy the biggest baddest heaviest cast iron sink you can find; I'll tell you now that they're gonna have to notch the insides of your cabinets all to hell and build 2x4 framing underneath your sink. While I'm sure I have you all captivated now, I'll move on. Sunday I spent all day working on my friend's cars. First we adjusted the timing on his '63 Chrysler 300 and put on a new bumper. Then we put in a new motor mount, rear shocks, and changed the oil on his '61 3/4 ton straight six flatbead ford pickup. I'll try and put a photo of the truck in a file. Of course, all other time was spent with that artist girlie. We are both pretty well smitten with each other. Now if we could just find some way to get rid of her psycho stalker ex-boyfriend from a year ago! The world is full of crazies. Have big plans this weekend. Will let y'all know how they turn out.
-J