Christmas....well I took the red eye on christmas eve and landed @ 8am w/ no sleep. I am glad I did it, but the "rockstar christmas" was bittersweet. It was difficult to socialize with the relatives when I wasn't quite all there. At one point my Mom ordered me to go upstairs and get some sleep. When I woke up, my Dad and a few friends of the family had left and I didn't get to say goodbye.
The rest of the time, we played cards, drank, smoked, & talked shit. That's what we do normally, play cards. We played Texas Hold `em and Shanghai. I broke even. They told me about all the plans they had for me since I was supposed to have a six day visit. So, I felt kinda gipped. I'm glad I wasn't stuck in an airport for four days or had to miss the whole visit. It was just a little disappointing since I hadn't been home for years and now I got shortchanged.
It was still worth it.
Dad helped me pay for the new bass & gave me a wooden sculpture he bought from the Dizzie Gillespie estate. It's being shipped to me. I'll post a photo once it's here.
I did learn that one needs to be mindful when watching a DVD on your laptop. If the movie has nudity in it, you might piss off another passenger. That didn't happen, but I was watching Sideways and wasn't expecting the full frontal male nudity. Fortunately I didn't get yelled at by some parent.
New Year's was kinda lame. My friends told me about a formal attire party. I like getting dressed up. I went with three friends. My friends who told me about the party didn't show up. We didn't know anybody there and it was this weird stuck-up icky west-sider crowd. They didn't make any effort to socialize with us and we didn't try to socialize with them. The bartender was cool.
After midnight, we went to the fun party near my place. They had a nice trashcan fire going. I met some fellow motorcyclists that I'll probably go on rides with. Everyone was fun & cool. Actual interesting conversations instead of people simply sizing each other up. People were a little baffled at our attire, but other than that I wish we went to that party first and just stayed there.
A bunch of my friends went camping at Chicken Lake. I didn't go because it was cold as balls and I had to pay for an unexpected van repair. It turned out that some guy died there. No one knew him very well. They think he suffocated in his bivy sack, but it's impossible to say without the autopsy. So, when the guys truck was still there when everyone else had left, my friend decided to investigate and found him. Poor guy.
Work is almost back to normal. There's actual work for me to do. My mentor surprized me by telling me that if I went to another facility and played my cards right, I could make almost twice as much. I need experience right now and it'll be tough to move since I like my commute, my hours, and most of the people I work with. I even had one person who can be very difficult tell me that they were having a bad day because my replacement was screwing up and they wished I was still in my old job. It's funny how people don't appreciate things until they're gone. I took it as a compliment.
My birthday is a week from Monday. I can't have a party here because the place is too small. I don't really want to throw a party for myself, anyway. I don't want to spend any money. Instead, I'm going out for sushi with some friends. Then we'll have people meet us at Footsie's afterwards. No muss, no fuss.
I'm going to the gym and then I'll spruce up my studio and maybe go see "Pan's Labyrinth". I saw Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima". It was interesting. Very graphic in places. It was cool to see the story from the Japanese soldier's perspective. The coloring was so subdued it was almost black & white. The sound design was great. Seeing movies at the Arclight is worth the extra three bucks if you get the matinee price of $11.
The rest of the time, we played cards, drank, smoked, & talked shit. That's what we do normally, play cards. We played Texas Hold `em and Shanghai. I broke even. They told me about all the plans they had for me since I was supposed to have a six day visit. So, I felt kinda gipped. I'm glad I wasn't stuck in an airport for four days or had to miss the whole visit. It was just a little disappointing since I hadn't been home for years and now I got shortchanged.
It was still worth it.
Dad helped me pay for the new bass & gave me a wooden sculpture he bought from the Dizzie Gillespie estate. It's being shipped to me. I'll post a photo once it's here.
I did learn that one needs to be mindful when watching a DVD on your laptop. If the movie has nudity in it, you might piss off another passenger. That didn't happen, but I was watching Sideways and wasn't expecting the full frontal male nudity. Fortunately I didn't get yelled at by some parent.
New Year's was kinda lame. My friends told me about a formal attire party. I like getting dressed up. I went with three friends. My friends who told me about the party didn't show up. We didn't know anybody there and it was this weird stuck-up icky west-sider crowd. They didn't make any effort to socialize with us and we didn't try to socialize with them. The bartender was cool.
After midnight, we went to the fun party near my place. They had a nice trashcan fire going. I met some fellow motorcyclists that I'll probably go on rides with. Everyone was fun & cool. Actual interesting conversations instead of people simply sizing each other up. People were a little baffled at our attire, but other than that I wish we went to that party first and just stayed there.
A bunch of my friends went camping at Chicken Lake. I didn't go because it was cold as balls and I had to pay for an unexpected van repair. It turned out that some guy died there. No one knew him very well. They think he suffocated in his bivy sack, but it's impossible to say without the autopsy. So, when the guys truck was still there when everyone else had left, my friend decided to investigate and found him. Poor guy.
Work is almost back to normal. There's actual work for me to do. My mentor surprized me by telling me that if I went to another facility and played my cards right, I could make almost twice as much. I need experience right now and it'll be tough to move since I like my commute, my hours, and most of the people I work with. I even had one person who can be very difficult tell me that they were having a bad day because my replacement was screwing up and they wished I was still in my old job. It's funny how people don't appreciate things until they're gone. I took it as a compliment.
My birthday is a week from Monday. I can't have a party here because the place is too small. I don't really want to throw a party for myself, anyway. I don't want to spend any money. Instead, I'm going out for sushi with some friends. Then we'll have people meet us at Footsie's afterwards. No muss, no fuss.
I'm going to the gym and then I'll spruce up my studio and maybe go see "Pan's Labyrinth". I saw Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima". It was interesting. Very graphic in places. It was cool to see the story from the Japanese soldier's perspective. The coloring was so subdued it was almost black & white. The sound design was great. Seeing movies at the Arclight is worth the extra three bucks if you get the matinee price of $11.
sushi! what is your favorite type!
its so refreshing to find a journal with so much detail and variety such as yours. they are few and far between.
Happy Birthday in advance if I don't talk to you before then
and most importantly, thanks for the comment on my set!
And yeah- I can't imagine not being able to see colour in a great way..
sorry to take so long to reply- but i wanted to say i appreciated it, and it made me smile- and i didnt want you to think that i didnt care.
anyhew... enough out of me-
hope to hear from you soon!
life is beautiful was such an amazing film. to the point that i call it a film and not a movie....
i might have to try some tuna roll or tuna related sushis next time i hit up my favorite spot.. something different from my usual avocado, tempura salmon or salmon roll..