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 |   A little bit of everything, colored my own way. |
 BLOG CHALLENGE WINNER FOR SEPTEMBER 2011 AND APRIL 2012!! ** Image ID #1901871 Unavailable **  After almost a year away, I've decided to revisit Blogville. I'm refreshed and ready...this time around it'll be a little different. I'll talk about a little bit of everything...music, sports, retail life, and more. It's not for everyone...you might not like it, but someone you know (and possibly detest) probably will! WHO THE HELL DO I THINK I AM??  We're gonna find out one way or another!  Relax, enjoy, leave a comment, tell your friends... A special thanks to Julie D - PUBLISHED!  for the 2011 Quill Awards image!"There is only one way...it is THE WAY." -Photo Jesus  "Can't you count to one??"  Thanks for stopping by and showing your support!  |
| JUNE 24, SUNDAY, DAY 24 - DISCUSS SOMEONE ELSE'S BLOG ENTRY AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK? WHAT HAPPENED? NB: This is an open prompt in the guise of a blog entry. You could tell us about your observations of your day, your experiences, your memories. still editing...check back after tomorrow afternoon. |
| THE PROMPT: "Everyone talks about the weather but nobody ever does anything about it. Discuss in detail how the weather affects you and what sort of things you do or have done to cope with the weather conditions." Greetings from sunny Buffalo, yo. So, a few days after I laid down the ground rules about not talking about the weather in the box I type in, Thundersbeard 30DBC JULY HOST drops this jem of a prompt in my inbox this morning. Go figure.  So let me get this off my chest...nobody ever does anything about the weather because nobody can. Unless you're some sort of freakish superhero with the ability to create fire or ice (and please, don't get all DC Comics on me about this), that's not happening...unless an entire nation decides to go suicide bombing in the form of lighting fire with aerosol cans of hairspray and it fucks up the ozone layer, causing another tsunami in a foreign country that America will bail out, while the middle class rots from broken wallets. Another thought...meteorologists have the greatest job in the world. If I was wrong 50% of the time at my job, I wouldn't have a job. You'd think the unemployment line would be filled with these people...but no, they'll take their fancy suits and well-coiffed 'do's and remake themselves into some kind of local-interest tv hero. Sweet gig, I guess.  And to kill the prompt, I'm a summer baby. I love the sun, and I hate the cold. Living a Buffasnow winter sucks ass. Plain and simple. To quote the late mayor of Buffalo, James D. Griffin during the Blizzard Of '85, "Stay inside, grab a six-pack and watch a good football game.” http://www.forgottenbuffalo.com/forgottenbflofeatures/jimmygriffin19292008.html I'm a mess when it comes to talking about weather. Gloomy clouds and rainy days suck. They drag down my mood. But show me a nice thunderstorm at night, or a sunshower during the day, and I'm mellow, relaxed, and awesome. And of course, a nice, sunny day like today is something I'm usually very upbeat about. It's promising, it's warm, it's breezy enough to kill the sweat, and all is well in the world. Hell, even on those five degree February days when you need sunglasses to kill the sun's reflection off the snowbanks, those are good days too (until you step outside and the snot freezes to the inside of your nose and your chest wants to secede from your body because it's so tight from the cold). There. Obligatory weather talk done. Rules is rules up in here! MUSICAL BREAK!!  Ok, I'm bending the rule about weather a little more, just because I'm goin' to see these masters of hip-hop tomorrow night, and this song fits the day somewhat. I don't even care that I've probably posted it 100 times before.  VITAL STATS:  So I'm not at a wedding I was invited to on a gorgeous fucking day. Not sipping on gin and tonics, my preferred summer celebration beverage. Not bustin' out crappy dance moves to the crappy music played at weddings. I've been pretty much de-everything'd from my social life due to some bullshit. Am I bitter? Yeah, which doesn't help. Does she hurt? I guess she does. Do I hurt? Yeah, but it doesn't matter. Are my arguments valid? Not if they're unheard or ignored. Makes me feel great for giving up three+ years of my life to end up with even less than I had going into it. Am I an asshole? Sometimes. But I have thoughts, feelings and emotions too. I'm not a bad person. I didn't actually fuck this up for once by doing something stupid, like my past suggests. And if I did, I was ignorant at best and faultily designed at worst when it comes to cohabitation.And that's it for me tonight. No crazy work stories; just probably shutting my phone off to avoid text diarrhea from thinking too much, having to much to say, and not being able to verbalize it or defend myself properly after I drop bombs. I'll just do my thing and take the ticking time bomb to sleep in hopes that there's no need to detonate. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! When Letterman gives his approval, that's sweet for indie music. I dedicate that to all the single moms, the working people, and those just gettin' by doin' what they're doin' and trying to have some fun on their downtime. It's a tough world out there.  |
| THE PROMPT: "What is the "worst" thing parents do to their children? Bearing in mind this is a humor prompt and not an expose." (The Funny Friday prompt) Good evening y'all! It's "Funny Friday" and whatnot, so strap on your funny pants like you're goin' golfin' and let's kick some words, alright? I'm not a parent, but I've dated a few in my day. I try to be the good cop to the bad cop in these situations; after all, if the kids like you, the mom will generally adore you, depending on the situation, of course. Of course, we all remember the prompt earlier in the week about giving advice, and how bad I am at taking my own...I've been tellin' silly boys for years if they see chicks with kids, run!! But my last two girlfriends have had kids. Yes, I'm the chicken and the egg, sitting in a frying pan. But I look at it like this...I'm 36. The crop of single women out there that are my age probably already have kids, or they're crazy cat ladies, or they're just crazy like the end of a sentence: period. There are a few exceptions, but there's exceptions to everything, and usually I'm the killer of exceptions. So anyway, speaking of crazy, let's actually talk about what I came into this box to talk about. The "worst thing" parents do to their kids, in a funny and "non-Jerry Springer" kind of way. Well, that leaves out divorces or breaking up. Or driving them off a cliff as you roll out of a car. Or plopping the toddlers in front of the tv when you want to go out and film the next episode of "Bad Bad Daddy". Honestly, there's two things parents do that are pretty awful in a funny way...dress the kids ridiculously when they were too young to dress themselves, and show them pictures they took of their kids when they're teenagers of those days. It's not the kids' faults that fashions change, or that maybe mommy and daddy's (or another relative's) bad judgement needs to be relived. Case in point: I was born in 1975. I had a great-uncle who was also my godfather, and I guess he had some money. When I turned three, he bought me three Leisure Suits, which apparently were popular at the time. Thankfully I have not seen any pictures of this, but the thought that at any point in my life I may have actually worn them just terrifies the living shit outta me. These poor kids who get dressed beyond their will...it's hilarious!! Until you're a teenager and you've seen that it happens to you when you're at a family party and someone busts out the old photo albums for the long-lost relative. That's when the reunion cake gets thrown on the ground. That's my word. MUSICAL BREAK!!  Two days from now, at this time, I'll be at this concert, and I wouldn't mind hearing this, because it's hilarious and I can picture it happening at a particular bar I used to go to more times than I care to admit to.VITAL STATS:  My boy Scottie K was a old co-worker of mine a few years back, when the Sabres were making a run at the Stanley Cup in hockey. He was so diehard, that during the playoffs, he was doing everything he could to get tickets to the home playoff games. And once, he couldn't, so me, him and Bro Mike went down to the arena anyway, where they were showing the game outside on two giant screens. It was a legendary game in Sabres history... http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/18498365-nhl/ I've never hugged so many random stangers at one time in my life than that night. Anyway, Scottie K would grab his buddies, hop in his car, and look for scalpers selling tickets. They'd hold signs saying, "WE BUY TICKETS!!". It was always in his windshield when I'd get in his car. The one day, someone defaced his sign. I laughed my ass off when it said, "WE BUY TICKETS!! BABIES!!" To this day, I still don't know if I've gotten the whole story...maybe they were offering to buy the babies of...wait, I don't even know if I can speculate. Crackheads, so they could resell them for tickets? Next time I catch up with Kielsy, I'll have to get the lowdown again.Eh, enough storytellin' for one night. Time to take care of some biz and move on with the night. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! ** Image ID #1355758 Unavailable ** |
| THE PROMPT: "Housework is overrated. Yes or no?" What's up everyone? This prompt? Simple. It depends. There's two trains of thought for the male brain on this one...and since that's the only train I can ride without a ticket, allow me to pass my feelings about this on to you. THE SINGLE MALE TRAIN: Dude, you're by yourself. You have one person to clean up after. You either make a dirty dish and clean it, or wait for the sink to fill, stink, and clean about half of them before you give up, let them resoak, and try again when it fills up. Unless you need something to cook with...then, good luck. You live out of a laundry basket...putting your clothes away means having to search longer for something you really want to wear. The bathroom gets clean one of two ways: it noticably needs it, or you're expecting the presence of a lady, and let's just say that by "noticiably needs", well, basically you just let it go for far too long because you haven't gotten the presence of a lady in quite awhile. And vaccuuming? Please! You're a guy! The soles of your shoes are immune to the shit you step in! You just sprinkle that scented powder down a few times a year and run over it for awhile, and you're all set. Besides, it saves wear and tear on the carpets, which are harder to replace than vaccuuming is. Unless you've got pets...then you keep them off anything and everything, because pets are known for walking where they poop...and they're not men. You control your schedule, and you know when someone's coming by, and if you warn them correctly, you'll have time to make your place look respectable, yet lived in. THE UNSINGLE MALE TRAIN: You love your woman, so you're expected to split some of the load. And if she has kids, expect a bigger load. Sure, maybe you can con convince kids into doing some work, but good luck enforcing any agreed-upon terms unless it's in writing and/or there's incentives involved. Don't fall behind, for fear of the wrath of a woman scorned when there's a spot in the bathroom anywhere. Put your clothes away in a prompt fashion...that clean laundry basket behind a closed bedroom door is still a toxin if company's coming over. If the shoes aren't off 20 seconds after crossing the threshold of the door you entered from the outside, an alarm instantly goes off on the vaccuum cleaner. And at the first whiff of any smell coming from anywhere, either the garbage needs to be taken out, or the fridge needs to be cleaned. And if you didn't notice any of this a week before it actually occurs, expect no happy sexy time for at least three weeks, give or take the plumbing schedule of the female. Because, you know, company could show up at any time, and it might be Better Homes And Gardens. That, my friends, is a legit guide to housework. It should be given out by landlords and real estate agents upon any man entering into a rent/lease/home buying agreement. You've got my stamp of approval on that. I've been on both trains. Either one generally gets you to the same place...eventually, you arrive, only to leave and come back to it again. On the first train, the track's a little longer and allows you to enjoy some of the scenery along the way. The other train is full of noisy passengers taking up a lot of room, trying to avoid the same inevitable destination, with a conductor flying the train down the tracks because they want you there yesterday. Both trains have pros and cons, so long as you're a good passenger and skip that $5 mini-bottle of wine. And any way you look at it, it's generally a long trip either way...all that matters is how you want the end result to be. MUSICAL BREAK!! There's always a song for this subject, isn't there? No, there isn't. But dammit, there's one on my world-famous iPod. VITAL STATS:  The big debate at work today? What song had the lyrics "forever, fo-eva eva?" in it. I was making change for a cashier at the register and we both managed to say it at the same time...after I called her and asked her what she needed. She answered, didn't say hi or anything, just, "Can I get a...some singles and some quarters?" So I went with, "Can I get a what-what?" Yup, Music Nerdology 101 on display. It figures...the last hour of the day was the slowest after the morning flew by, and the only thing that could kick my bruises was trying to figure out where we came up with, "forever, fo-eva eva?" True damn story. Turns out there were two right answers. I nailed mine, and missed the guess someone else had on the other one, who was close. Damn you, WDC, for only allowing two video embeds per post. That  would've been fun to post.And I'm done for today. On to other stuff, I figure. Then I get to cuddle with my favoritest 4-foot sock monkey before I visit Retail Hell again in the morning time. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! |
| THE PROMPT: "Talk about your high school days." Good afternoon, friends...it's a hot one out there and I love it. No complaints from this cat about it. But this War Chest prompt? Yikes. Why drudge up the repressed memories! I was kinda mulling it over when I read the prompt this morning...next year will be my class' 20th anniversary reunion. I skipped my 10th (I was amazed I was even tracked down for it) for a few reasons. Besides one of my longest and closest friends, I hadn't really talked to anyone but a few people over that time. Nowadays, with social networking, there's no place to hide! Just kidding...sorta. I've been able to reconnect, like a lot of people have, so it's been cool catching up with people I haven't talked to in years. Does that make me any more likely to go to the next reunion? Eh, we'll see. I tossed the idea around during my 10th, eventually convinced myself to go, and then a bunch of circumstances hit me like that's life and rearranged my decision-making. Time will tell, I suppose. Now, high school itself? It wasn't all that fun...unless by fun you mean awkward, nerdy, clueless, not very self-assured, etc. Like a lot of kids were, I'm sure. I just wore it on my cheap clothes a little more frequently than the others. And everybody knows kids are the cruelest of species known to man. High school at times could almost be described as a not-as-gruesome version of kill or be killed. It's a vicious cycle...get picked on, stand up for yourself, and alienate others in the process. Luckily, the rest of my life has been a little kinder and gentler. It wasn't all bad though. I wrestled for awhile, and was in really good shape for awhile. Of course, as you get older, priorities change. But at least I've still got my personality, which is borderline funny and irritating (or, in my view, always funny  ). That part of me has never changed, and I'm ok with that. I wish I could tell you some good, fun memories, but they were few and far between...outside of a few close friends, I really didn't do much besides hang out and stuff. I wasn't too much of a troublemaker. Got into a few fights here and there, and kissed a couple of pretty (out of my league) girls, but nothing crazy...those stories don't occur until after high school.Speaking of which, let's let the next prompt be, "Well, after we left the Keystone Bar and Grill...", and you'll get a way more entertaining entry out of me, and that is a fact. MUSICAL BREAK!! Yeah, I can relate to this. Substitute Iron Maiden for the Beastie Boys, and it's pretty close. VITAL STATS: Well, any day you can drive your boss only a little crazy and not really get yelled at means work was only alright. But I'll take it. Never confuse me with being any kind of handyman. I can do the basics, but that's about it. And by basics, I mean putting tape on the corners of posters and hanging them on a wall. Plumbing? Yeah, that requires more than my knowledge allows. The toilet wouldn't flush, so I got it to flush, but then it wouldn't stop running. My solution? Shut the water to it at the pipe and wait for someone who knows how to fix it to come home. I know, ladies...I'm a keeper. Alright yo, I've gotta move on with my day. There's two kids on the other side of the basement playing some crazy video game with shooting and loudness and WTF!! So I now need to drown them out by rockin' some beats loud while catching up on the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  . Wish me luck. Ironically, both videos I checked out for this entry came with ads at the beginning playing some really irritating country music...maybe I'll get my noise-cancelling Sony cans out, cover my ears, and blast that on loop from Youtube. Sounds like a plan! Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! |
| THE PROMPT: "If I could give one piece of advice to any person in history, that advice would be..." Good evening everyone. Interesting idea today from the War Chest. It always seems like there's no shortage of people out there willing to offer their two cents about anything and everything, warranted or not. Everyone's an expert, ya know? Or they know somebody who did this or that and it worked out, so you should try it. I'm not really like that, or at least all the time. Sure, if you ask me for advice or an opinion, I'll offer my best guidance. I'm fairly educated enough to know a little about a lot, and generally I usuallly give decent advice...what you do with my nuggets of wisdom, however, is up to the one who wants it. That said, one thing I can tell you I'm not good at is heeding my own advice. I'm pretty terrible at it, actually. I'll have no problem telling you what's wrong and how to fix it, but I can't even listen to the sense coming from my mouth and apply it to my actions. Which would make me out to be a wonderful counsellor, if I were ever so inclined. But I'm not. As a college dropout, I'm an example...stay in school, kids, or work near-meaningless jobs in retail, struggling to make ends meet for the rest of your life! I can laugh because it's true.Now, about this prompt...hmmm...what would I have said and to who? Honestly, the first person besides myself that came to mind was Bill Clinton, the former persident. He had a pretty decent run in office, but it will always be scarred by the Monica Lewinsky scandal. What advice would I have given him? Easy. Don't do it, Bill...look at her! She's ugly as sin! She makes your wife look like a supermodel! Things like this never end well! And in retrospect, I would have been right. But presidents usually don't come looking for my advice, so what do I know? Generally abstaining from this behavior is sound advice for anyone to follow. Believe me when I say it again, things like this never end well! And like most of life's great lessons learned, they're usually done the hard way. Hindsight is often the greatest teacher...sometimes you have to play with fire to realize how badly you can get burned. And I may never be perfect, but you can bet your last dollar that I could probably write a book based on the mistakes I've had the opportunity to learn from. I most likely won't, but the experiences are definitely there. MUSICAL BREAK!! There are reasons for everything we do. There are good ones, and not-so-good ones. Sometimes, it's the most far-fetched of reasons that seems to be the one to tie the great ideas together. VITAL STATS: Finally got my performance review at work today...better than I thought or rated myself, but you'll never confuse me with being the Employee Of The Year. Had a good talk with my boss though about that, and some other things. Some things that I got away from are going to come back. I'll have a bit of a voice again. Kinda good to be trusted in that position. We have a good staff, and I love the people I work with. Most of them have been around together longer than I've been there, and I'm thankful enough to have fit in with them and earned their respect and friendships. Hope it's another good year.And that's really all I'm at liberty to speak of now at the moment. Feel free to comment by using your preferred methods of accessing this material, and I'll be happy to discuss this with you (as always). Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! |
| THE PROMPT: "Some critics believe that you need a special poetic language when you write a poem, while others say that ordinary language is perfectly all right. Which side are you on?" What's up y'all? I've got a special message for critics on this one....if you've never read me, you can't say nothin'. A special language for poetry? Maybe in the 1800's! If you can speak a language, and write it fluently, that's all you need! I didn't know there were rules...maybe there were and they changed...hell, maybe I changed the rules, I don't know. I've written enough poems in my own language that have been reread and loved over and over to know that it's not the words you use, but how you use them. One perusing of my portfolio will explain that to you. Traditionalistic language only carries you so far. In order nowadays to stand out and be creative, you've got to basically bastardize the language. You've got to find the unlikeliest of word pairings and make then work. You've got to do the things that separated Poe and Shakespeare from their contemporaries. That's a hard gig in this day and age...everyone's a poet, or everyone's got something to say. Or, to sum it up otherwise, those who can, do. Those who can't, call themselves critics. I prefer to write "free verse". It's usually rambling off the top of my head for whenever I'm in the mood to write. And it sounds like it means nothing, but there's probably a motive somewhere. I'll save you the legwork and post some examples... "California Sinks Farther Into The Ocean" "Hopeful Hopelessness" "Blur The Future" MUSICAL BREAK!! I've only posted this video hundreds of times, but if the prompt fits... Wow...if anything wanted to exist in order solely to make me hold a microphone, it'd be that. VITAL STATS:  Facebook will tell you that I made a pretty fantastic meal today.  It will also tell you there are more people concerned about what I say than I could've ever imagined, and for that, I'm very thankful.And so it goes, my friends. Peace and love to you all. A good Tuesday to you when tomorrow breaks. GOODNIGHT NOW!! Only the greatest frontman/improvisationalist in the history of rock and roll, people. Makes me wanna hook up the Xbox and play Rockband by myself. |
| THE PROMPT: "Tell us about your week; or tell us which one of your fellow challengers entries resonated with you." What's up? I took a nap, so I am, dammit. In lieu of singling out anyone for their entries (I told you last week I'm not playing favorites), I'll offer up a few bits of news from my world that didn't make it into the blog this week. Fair enough? Consider this a VITAL STATSATHON:  A bank across the street from where I work was forcibly robbed last week. Luckily, a dilligent customer was able to get a license plate of the getaway vehicle while on his/her stomach. They caught the robbers. I often wonder how I'd react in a hold-up. I know how I think I'd play the "hero", and I know what we're taught, but I'd probably be somewhere in between. Saw this as a Facebook status the other day: "My manicures last longer than my relationships." My lord, people have lost their damn minds. This person is a friend only because we went to the same school and I graduated with her sister. She's the type that thinks everyone wants to sleep with her, although she's not really, ummm, that attractive. So, ummmm, really? Maybe there's truths you're not seeing somewhere, you silly delusional lady.  Ahhh, the hockey emoticon as per Brother Nature  . I entered a Stanley Cup pool run by an old friend/coworker. You pick the first round, and the subsequent rounds based on your picks (before the first round is over), and I guess you get points based on your picks. Well I don't even remember my picks (I have a hard time with hockey when my Sabres are out of the running). But all you need to know is that I have two thumbs and  this guy won the damn pool! It's around $70...I'll know for sure later on this week, but that's money I didn't wake up with, so sweeeeeet! I never win this kinda stuff!! Shit isn't working on either end, so I'll be searching for a new residence soon. Go figure...I finally get the basement set up the way I want it to, and the woman loses her shit regardless of what I do. Fucking grand. She thinks you people are more important than her to me, which isn't the case, but you know women...once their mind is made up, there's no sense trying to change it. The argument is futile...and the more I fight it, the wronger she'll make me feel...which makes this the right thing to do.MUSICAL BREAK!! Yup. That sort of frustrated where you can't get someone else to make sense of themself. Am I wrong? Yes. But am I a person who has reason to be upset, yet my appeals get denied? Yes, indeed. Typical of the life I live around here. Not your typical Sunday, y'all. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! |
| THE PROMPT: "You just won the lottery! However, the catch is that you MUST spend all of the money in a single store or chain of stores. You are NOT allowed to donate or gift the money in any way. So, which store would you spend your lottery money in?" Good evening...what's good, yo? I see that we have a twist here on the old game we all played, "What would you do if you had a million dollars?" I remember doing it as a kid...sitting down with a calculator and a sheet of paper, and plotting. Houses and cars...toys...all the fun shit we could never afford. And being a kid (and not knowing the value of things sometimes, or the added costs incurred), having a hard time spending it. Now that I'm older (remember that I said older, and not "mature"), I see things a little differently. Houses are expensive, and insurance must be considered. The same with cars. Now, I don't need fancy clothes or many material things. And since we're limited to basically giving our winnings to some store, that rules out paying off debts, upgrading living conditions, or helping out family. So, what you're really telling me, is that I'm spending all of this money on cool shit for me in a store? One store? Easy! (And for the record, I'm capping my winnings at a million, minus Uncle Sam's and NY State's take. I don't need to win a Powerball $500 million jackpot or anything like that...just enough Franklins to satisfy my wishes.) So here's where I'm heading...I don't go there very often anymore since they closed the location closest to me, and the nearest ones are a little out of the way, and iTunes now gets most of my entertainment money, but it's by far the first place that came to mind when I saw the prompt. Good ol' Record Theatre...a local staple of music for decades. Check them out here: http://www.recordtheatre.com/ Why? Because where else is there to buy good music these days? Best Buy? Target? No thanks. Them "big-box" retailers know nothing about music. They sell all that crap you hear on the radio. Well, fuck the radio, because the music I listen to is stuff you won't hear on the radio. Their selections are always so limited, and overloaded with "the big hits of today" and the greatest hits of yesterday and the latest "next big thing". Naw man, I'm gonna support a locally-owned, independant, old school record shop. See, I can never go in to Record Theatre without dropping at least $50. I can go in looking for one thing in particular, knowing they carry it (and I don't mind calling ahead to see if they've got it). New releases, dvds, new and used cds, even new and used vinyl (yes, I'm an audiophile...and I own a turntable with a collection of some of the cheesiest records ever put out). My old favorite location used to even had an "adult" section, but I don't know anything about that...I was waitng to mature to see what that was about. So turn me loose on Record Theatre with a shit-ton of money, and I'd go Christmas morning on the place...tearing into stacks of cds and records. I may have over a thousand cds now, but I'd have everything I need and more by the time I'm done. See, you might pay a dollar or two more there than Best Buy or anywhere else, but it's worth it because the money's staying in the community. And the indie shops? You know they carry all the underground shit nobody else will even touch. I've found personal classics there that I never would have found anywhere else, except maybe online...but I didn't have a credit card or a computer for a long time, so that would've done me no good. Did I mention they have a large variety of used cds? I'm sorry...I'm all about new and quality and all that, but a used cd is the same as a new one to me. I've gotten tons of used cds from Record Theatre, and I've never had an issue with the quality. Same with the used vinyl! I played every record I've gotten from them (while paying anywhere from $.25 to $2.00) from front to back without a skip or anything degrading the audio quality. They also buy used cds, cassettes and vinyl. Don't expect much, but fuck it, in ten years when you're no longer in love with Justin Beiber and he's washin' cars for a living, you can make a buck by selling his cd back. They'll turn around and resell it for a fraction of what you paid for it brand new, so some parent can relive the magic with their kids for a few years, only for that kid to grow up bitter and disenchanted for what their parents made him/her listen to during their formative years. And what exactly would I buy? Well, about 12 years or so ago, I had one of those cd binders with all the cds I owned at the time. And it was stolen from my car. I worked a second job at a gas station overnight on the weekends, so when the second shift person left, I'd bring in my radio and cds (and this is neither the time nor place to mention all of the other shenanigans I pulled back in the day at that job). So I was out my entire collection. Some I've replaced, some I can live without, but I'd probably buy what I haven't yet. If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm a gigantic music nerd. Living life with only one cd that was left in your stereo is no way to live (unless it's The Tragically Hip's "Phantom Power", which I had just purchased at the time and was falling in love with). I'd buy a shit-ton more of cheesy vinyl as well. Why? Because records are sweeeeeet! C'mon, it's all I had when I was growing up, until I moved on to cassettes. I'm a product of my mother's Beach Boys and Beatles records. No doubt, I'd buy so much, I'd have to make a couple of trips trying to bring it all back home. And I'd have to pray they started selling iPods, because my 120GB iPod is damn near full. I'd need one of the 160GB's, and that wouldn't be enough for a lotta hundo-thous of beats, rhymes and life (yes, I lifted that from A Tribe Called Quest). And if I had everything I was looking for and more, I'd use the spare change and treat all y'all to a nice lunch. At http://www.mightytaco.com/main.php MUSICAL BREAK!! When I worked for the biggest locally-owned consumer electronics retailer in the area, we had the opportunity to earn something called "Spiffs". You got Spiffs for selling certain products, copying the reciepts, and sending them in. Periodically, you'd get checks for this practice. I had a successful three month run one Christmas season, and received $4500 from "Uncle Sony", as I liked to call it. With that, I bought my first receiver (a Harman/Kardon that's still in use), my first Sony dvd player (that died years ago) and my first turntable (also a Sony). And I went on a vinyl shopping spree with Bink, who was the audio manager at the time and perhaps even a bigger music nerd than me. He played in some local bands and we would trade music all the time, even though we had different tastes. I'm pretty sure he cringed when I bought this, but yes, I own this album on wax. MOTORIN'!! VITAL STATS: I got nothin'...today just felt like I was being pulled apart at the limbs by horses runnin' in separate directions. Hence, little accomplished. But I'mma take two day scheduled off and not worry about it. I'm beat from workin' another eight hours, walkin' home for an hour and twenty, and gettin' on with gettin' on. Ya dig? Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! I've bastardized this at karaoke so many times....I had to include this. |
| THE PROMPT: "Boy, was my face red when ..." Good evening folks...it's a little late but that's ok. It's "Funny Friday" in promptland...and I got nothin' to support it! At least I think I don't. When you have no shame, very little can happen to embarrass yourself on a blog entry-worthy level. Usually, when my pants fall down in public, it's because I wanted them down. If someone blatantly tries to pull one on me, I can turn it around on them pretty quick. I think you see where I'm goin' with this. I'm sure I could bend the prompt a little and say my face was red because of anger, or cold weather, or from the ten miles I just ran. But I don't run, anger isn't generally funny if your face is red from it, and I prefer not to discuss cold weather (it's a general rule in this here box I'm typing in right now). So that idea's out. Gosh...I hate having to think sometimes. But, I'll try my best and play along. Boy, was my face red when... Uhhhh, still nothin'. Ok, let's switch this up a bit. One of my favorite sayings is "A thousand noes equals one giant yes", and that's the route I'm gonna take. I'm sure we've all done a couple of these things, and they turn my face red from time to time... I know, because I've done all of these. So a lot of little things should make this one decent entry.  Walking into a store that only accepts cash and having just a credit card on you...that doesn't work in their ATM. Paying for gas at the gas station, not pumping it, and driving away. Seeing someone at work get written up for calling me a "dickhead" (jokingly) over the store's intercom and offending someone other than me. Seeing a handicapped girl get written up at work because she was sexually harassing me and offending everyone. A customer telling me that Dove Promises chocolate candies, which are maybe an inch by an inch around and maybe 1/4 of an inch thick, telling me she wanted chocolates that were sold as "minis", like Snickers and Milky Way, which specifically states "minis" on the bag, even though they're bigger than Dove Promises. Her insistence was frightening...I had to walk away, shaking my damn head. She was adamant that she didn't want them because they weren't "minis". Arguing with a very old woman at work, while my long hair at the time was pulled back in a ponytail, over whether or not I was a boy or a girl. Her insistence was even more frightening...I also had a full beard.There. That wasn't so bad. Something we can all relate to, I'm sure. MUSICAL BREAK!! Definitely not embarrassing. VITAL STATS:  I'll definitely have this in by midnight. I have to, or it turns into a pencil-drawn pumpkin. Had a visit at work today from a detective a few towns over. Seems that some sucka used a stolen credit card at our store last week and ripped us off for over $193 worth of random merch. The detective wanted a copy of our surveillance footage, as he already had a suspect but wanted to have a face he could match to her. I was able to find the transaction in our transaction log, but the video footage...no go. Why? Because even though I can open and close the store by myself, and do all manager functions, I don't have a login for our super fancy high-tech surveillance computer, which can burn a couple minutes of footage from weeks ago onto a DVD. Yup, in America, that's known as "progress". Alright, I'm bailing. Got some other stuff to do, so I'm peacin' on ya. Have a great weekend, stay safe, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! |
| THE PROMPT: "Presidential election 2012. How is it going to go down?" (opinion prompt) Good evening friends. It's the opinion portion of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" , and I have several. So lemme go ahead and get started.Now, I don't do politics much anymore. I used to be very involved with it. I was the Vice-Chairman a few years back for a local political party that was doing great things in Depew. We wound up getting the first-ever woman elected for village mayor. Everything was going well. But even in local politics (where the politics are the closest to the people), things can change in a hurry. People talk, play games, backstab, and always know someone or something else, and ego gets in the way. So when I lost my reelection for Vice Chairman, I dropped out entirely. I know this is an election year, and national politics is an entirely different animal. I won't say I don't care, because I do. But you and I and pretty much everyone else knows this: the agendas change once the president is sworn in. Political agendas are based on what gets the person elected, and grow into what the president inherits once reality sets in. Not every egg then is edible; not every idea is feasible. We've seen this happen with several points that got Obama elected in the first place. Now, I'm can pretty much assure you I know nothing about the economy or how it works, I go on a lot of "key words and phrases", and I know that for everything the goverment tells us, there's at least 20 things they're not telling us. But it's easy to see that what Obama set out to do versus what he's accomplished are two different things. And I'm saying this as a registered Democrat. His initial response to the war was to send more troops, not to pull them out. And yeah, he hasn't saved the economy, added jobs, or lowered gas prices to more reasonable levels, but look at what he was left with after the Bush administration. Bush handed him the keys to the 'Vette with no gas, two flat tires and a scratched out vehicle identification number and said, "My mechanic's out of town." But in the end, I'm pulling for Obama to step up and not only win the election, but also have a successful second term. He's had four years to get his footing and catch a few gray hairs along the way. As they say in sports, when a young athlete struggles at first but soon hits his stride and starts living up to expectations and then some, "the game slows down for them", and I think that's going to be true of his second term. I think the Republicans' major flaw is they start out way before election season with too big a pool of hopefuls for candidates. These candidates cause too much in-fighting within the party rather than working together, and there's at least one or two in the lot who are legitimately batshit crazy and just embarrass the Republican tag, therefore alienating the public further from the party and its ideals. Now, these are just my beliefs. In all my years, I've never seen my life affected one way or another by the Commander In Chief...and if I had, I was too ignorant to notice. Please don't try to debate me, and don't shove the right-wing agenda down my throat. I'll read everyone's opinions on this, and respond respectfully, and that's all I ask in return. MUSICAL BREAK!! What do I really care about? That there's a president in the office when one of my local teams wins a championship, and that prez wants to invite them to the White House to congratulate them. VITAL STATS: See, this is how we have to enjoy ourselves in Retail Hell. We've got a part-time cashier who's, in her description, "87 years old and weighs 87 lbs.". I don't have much of a problem with her, other than she smells of cat pee and ratted on me once for dropping an f-bomb in her direction, which may or may not be true, although she told my bosses the date and time. But whatever.She took a phone call today, which was for a disgraced former employee who hasn't worked in our location in well over three years. So she paged this person over the intercom. Obviously, this person was not available to take the call. I was in my aisle, chuckling. Now mind you, our District Training Representative was at our store today, in the office with the store manager at the time. Five minutes later, I heard G-Stamm get paged to the office. And five minutes after that, our cashier voiced this exact page over the intercom: "Mr. Ben Dover, take the call on 101. Ben Dover, call on 101." No joke. I'm rolling in the aisle at this point. Probably because I'm 11 years old inside. A few minutes later I walked into the office, and there was the trainer and the district suit. G-Stamm had just spilled the beans to me in the stockroom, that they put him up to it. My boss was like, "Did you get the call for Ben?" trying as hard as she could with a straight face, until we both laughed. I looked at her, shook my head, and said, "Ya know, if you hadn't thought of that and I did, but didn't say anything and pulled it off, you would have flown out of the office, dragged me back into the office, and demanded to know what the hell was wrong with me. Even if I wasn't the one that did it!" And she paused for a moment, shook her head, and sadly, she agreed. The old lady, to her credit once she was told about the joke from another of the cashiers, was kinda whatever-ish about it. "I'm don't think like the rest of you people. You're nasty!" I'm kinda debating in my head if she's gonna show up next week when she's scheduled. And I have to end it on that note, y'all. I'm beat, my legs are shot from work and then walking home, and I'm gonna play catch-up a little bit. At least I can sleep in some tomorrow. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! |
| THE PROMPT: "Tell us what you like about your life." Good evening y'all! I'm feelin' this prompt, so the words are just gonna flow. Let me set this off with a quote I'll always remember from Mario Cuomo, an ex-governor of NY and father of current governor Andrew: "Life is not joy, but motion." Compelling stuff, right off the bat. And it's true. Life's not always cotton candy, puppies and free downloads. Life is the ups and downs, and how we navigate through 'em. There's a line in a song by Atmosphere that goes, "Sometimes you've got to get low just to get through", and I believe that. I'mma tell you what: I'm not the best person, I'm not the best decision-maker, I'm not the best planner, I haven't had the best life, and I won't top a lot of other "Best Of" lists. But I've got heart, character, personality, and will. And that last bit is gonna propel me through the completion of this entry just as much as the first three can. And it carries me through life like the others do combined. There's a lot to love about my life. I could clown around for days talkin' 'bout how great it is to be me. Nice house, decent job, pretty lady, all of that. But I also know what it means when you lose all that. Some people curl up and die. I could've been that cat. But I'm not. While I value how fortunate I've been in some situations, I realize others can't be so lucky. I don't take that for granted. I can boast and granstand with the best biggest mouths in town. And I can make your day, while mine's ready to be shit-canned. I can write a love song to nobody when love is the last thing on my mind. I will tell you I'm alright, even when I'm not, and you'll believe it because I can sell it. Does that make me a liar? That's on both our consciences to decide. I get miserable sometimes. I get depressed over choices I've made. I don't regret them, because that gets you nowhere. I embrace the learning experiences. I say the wrong thing at the most awkward time. And when I'm not comfortable, no one is comfortable. I'm selfish and needy. I'm co-dependant. I can't keep a lot of shit straight, and that's on me to sort things out on another level. And that's what I love about my life. I have the power over myself to fix things. I can choose. I can change. I'm as adaptable as any human being out there. I've made a life out of being able to get in where I fit in. To quote Chuck D of Public Enemy, "If I can't change the people around me, I change the people around me." That's profound, and it's a very important tool to have in your mental toolbelt. I'm not perfect. I'm flawed. I know this. I accept this with the understanding that it doesn't always have to be a cloudy day, even when it is. And I may not always come across as such, but I love my life. Next to my name, when all I've got is nothing, I still have that, and I'm not gonna let anyone take that away from me. At least not under my watch. MUSICAL BREAK!! Love life. Love your life. VITAL STATS: Retail Hell has reared its comical head again. This is from one of our grocery vendors who bring us refridgerated product. Processed food is some crazy shit; luckily we no longer stock these, um, treats."We are issuing a product recall for two <national chain restaurant>'s products. This is a lower level, Class 2 recall. This means we need to pull product back from you. This recall is based on a chance there are tiny metal particles in our seasoning. This was caused by an incoming seasoning from our seasoning supplier, <seasoning company here> and has nothing to do with us. These particles were even too small to be picked up by the metal detectors at the seasoning facility as well as our plant. Only these products were affected: Mozzarella Sticks and Onion Rings. All product must be held and not destroyed until further notice. We'll let you know what to do soon." That was not verbatim, but pretty close. Now, what's crazy about this? What isn't?? Food goes through metal detectors before it hits the shelf?  Who knew this? The processed food industry is insane! Damn!So I walked into the office after we put the delivery away and asked if anyone had one of those old horsehoe magnets...you know, the u-shaped ones that are red with the white tips. When asked why, I told them I was gonna see if we had any of the products on the recall, and I'd just take them from the freezer like that, in case we did have any of the affected lot codes. In an ironic turn of events, I may never eat at T.G.I. Friday's again.And there you have it, friends. Today's entry is in the bag. Love it, hate it, have your take in the comment box and I'll be happy to oblige you. Just another reason I love life. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! And how's this for irony? The Vevo ad before the video was for Friday's.  |
| THE PROMPT: "Tell us about the area you live in." Good evening everyone! Before I get started, I want to thank Thundersbeard 30DBC JULY HOST for the Computers MB he awarded me for the entry about 3-D printers...I appreciate it, sir! Now, onto today's prompt...A few "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" s back we were asked to write a similar entry (in fact, I think I was asked to come up with it...back when we were assigned days to come up with the prompt). I wrote about the great city of Buffalo, NY, where I was born. I chose Buffalo for a few reasons. I never tell people from other places that I'm from New York, because they always assume New York City. Well, I couldn't be further away from NYC and still be in New York, really. Unless I ended up in Lake Erie...no thank you. The second reason is that Buffalo's got some notoriety around the states, so people have a slight bit of familiarity. At one time, it was I believe the 4th largest city in the U.S., if you can believe that. Of course, there may not have also been 50 states at the time, but who's counting?So while being born in Buffalo is great and all, I'm a straight-up suburban kid. I grew up and spent about half my life in Cheektowaga, a first-ring suburb 10 minutes from the city line. From there I moved to the village of Depew, which is actually located in parts of Cheektowaga and where I currently live, which is in Lancaster. But it's still Western New York, and this ring of suburbs will still be Buffalo to me. So let's talk about Lancaster. There's the village of Lancaster, and the town of Lancaster. I'm in the village, and have been for about two years. I can't say I know it like the back of my hand yet, but maybe someday. The differences between the town and the village? Easy. Let me break it down like this: TOWN: It used to be more rural, but now it's mostly newer sub-divisions. More stretched out. Roads have faster speed limits. There's less to do, in my opinion. And it's further away from the city. VILLAGE: It definitely has an older feel to it. There are real neighborhoods with old houses that people still take pride in, as opposed to cookie-cutter subdivisions. The main strip in the village, Central Ave., looks almost the same as it probably did 40 or 60 years ago, but has a few more abandoned storefronts these days. Back in the day there was a department store even, but that's long gone. But there's still shops, boutiques, delicatessens and fun things to do with family. And there's always fun things in the summer...the Fourth of July carnival and festivities, The Taste of Lancaster (where local shops sell samples of their menu and compete for awards), the annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament, the Farmers' Market every weekend in the summer, and more. But I'd venture to say the biggest week in the village might be Homecoming Week at the high school. Shops deck themselves out in the school's colors (red and black) and kids do their sprit week traditions in school, leading up to the big football game with crosstown rival, Depew. It's one of the maybe three or four biggest rivalries in the area. And it's one of the longest-running too. I've been to a couple of the games, and no matter how the teams are doing that year, they're always intense...some of the most intense I've ever seen. But I never picked a side, even when I was lucky enough to have dated a few lucky ladies at each school (and justjessica1 herself is a Lancaster girl). Why couldn't I pick a side, the Lancaster Redskins or the Depew Wildcats (where a lot of my extended family wore blue and white)? Because I still bleed maroon and gold for my Cheektowaga Warriors, almost 20 years after graduating. MUSICAL BREAK!! I could totally relate to this. It brings me back to parts of my life I'll never forget. Can't wait to see them live for the first time...a week and a half to go! Two songs in one video...and both speak to their respective hometown. VITAL STATS: Ahhh, retail hell...not quite today, but I doubt there's a retail heaven somewhere in this twisted existence of employment. Had to walk home from work due to a scheduling change and some miscommunication, and it wasn't so bad. 'Bout halfway home one of the kids texted me and asked me if I was home, which, obviously, I wasn't, but he offered to have his girlfriend pick me up. Good thing...as soon as I got in the car there was a beautiful sunshower that would've had me drenched by the time I got home, even if it was a quick one.And that's all I'm gonna bleed out today...I'll save the rest for myself in other areas because, well, my plate's full and I wouldn't know where to begin. So peace, love each other, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! |
| THE PROMPT: "Tell us about a family visit; either you visited them or they visited you. Recently or long ago. Good...or bad." Good evening everyone...this is a cool little prompt, isn't it? Not morbid or anything, so I dig it. Back in the day, when I had a family, we did a really wonderful thing that got the entire extended family together. It was Easter week, maybe five or six years ago? Maybe more? Sounds about right. We all got together; there was maybe 70 or 80 of us, I don't know, but we all went on a cruise to the Bahamas. It was my stepmom's family. She's got four brothers and three sisters (well, one has since passed), so it was them, spouses, kids, damn near everyone. In fact, I can't recall anyone not making the trip, actually. It was gorgeous the entire week, save for maybe one half-hour stretch where it rained. In order to shave a few bucks off the bill, I roomed with my brother and sister, which really wasn't that bad. Late one night, my brother and I stole the complementary bottle of champagne they put in your room when you first arrive, and we ran roughshod over the entire ship on a pranking spree. On our floor there must've been a high school or church group with a curfew. The chapperones put tape on all of their party's doors to make sure no one was sneaking out at night, and we tore all of the tape down. Probably got some kids into some hot water, but what did we care? It was our vacation! On one of the islands, a lot of the girls were getting their hair braided. As we were all reconvening for a formal dinner that night, I was standing around talking to some of my cousins when one of my aunts showed up with these crazy funky braids that totally looked weird on her (she's a native Korean). I took one look at her and busted out with, "Wow, who invited Coolio to the party?" and everyone busted out laughing. Yeah, I'm a jerk. But really, it was definitely a fun trip. That's my preferred method of vacationing now, although I've yet to go on another one. It was nice waking up at about nine or ten am, having breakfast waiting for you, and then chilling poolside with the uncles over some reasonably-priced adult beverages while trying to decide what activities you were gonna persue in the afternoon and evening; see an island, go on a tour, see any of the attractions on the ship, hit the casino, or just have another drink by the pool. The most amazing part? That it may have been the first and probably last time the entire family will have gotten together like that in any way, shape or form. So much has happened since then, between deaths and divorces. Really, the only people I talk to anymore are a bunch of cousins, and we really only just catch up on Facebook. So many have moved out of town that even simple things can't be done, like just grabbing a cup of coffee. But it's nice to have that experience and those memories. I guess it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. MUSICAL BREAK!! Who invited Coolio?VITAL STATS:  Here's a fun little human interest story...about the merits of getting up at a reasonable hour, which I'm not prone to do when it's my day off. I got up at around nine-ish, screwed around a little and jumped on Facebook. An old friend that used to live down the street from me in elementary school, who I haven't seen since before graduation, posted that he was giving away his old 32" RCA tv for free to anyone who would come and take it off his hands. So I jumped on it. We exchanged a few messages, got his address (which isn't that far from me), and we had a deal. I hopped in the Saturn Ion (which surprisingly fit the monster of a tv), made a stop at Tim Horton's for some coffees and Timbits for him, his girl and their adorable daughter (I'm not gonna show up empty-handed when someone's being so kind and generous), and we lugged that big tv down a flight of stairs and got it into the car. We don't need another tv, but we'll probably put it in our room and give the one we have now to one of the boys for their room. I'm very thankful to this man, who like I said, I haven't seen in ages, but was fortunate to remain in touch with via Facebook. A very cool thing he did...and I hope to position myself to pay it forward someday.That's really it for today, kind people who've made it this far. Other than a nap, not much else went on today. Looks like the woman just came home from her vacation, so I guess I should be saying hi or something to her, so I'll catch up with you later. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! Wow...forgot about how many f-bombs there were in that song. |
| THE PROMPT: "Tell us which of your fellow challengers' entries resonated with you. Or tell us about your week (blog!) or attempt both!" Good evening folks. What's good out there? I only ask because I'm being asked to report upon what I think's been good on WDC this past week. Well, that and I do also care about the people who stop by and lounge in the internet rest stop known as this page. But enough about you...onto my take for something that resonated with me this week in the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" .But here's the rub...I'm not gonna play "favorites" or say anyone's entry meant more to me than someone else's. When I sit back and think about the week that was, I'll say that June 7th's prompt, "Cyberwar - Should governments be using it? WIth all the breaking news about what has been done to Iran lately (and Israel's admittance of using cyber-hacking techniques), how do you feel and what if other countries started using it against your country?" still resonates with me because I'm still thinking about it in spurts. When I think back upon the week in prompts, that's the one I for some reason can't let go. And I don't know why, but after a week's worth of prompts, that one sticks out the most in my mind. We all had a good week of writing. The Challenge is shaping up nicely this month. Everyone's bringing some good game to the table. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. And rather than rehash what kind of hell this week has been personally as some kind of recap, I'll let you scroll down over the last seven...no, ten entries (as my page is set up to view) and you can review my week from there. MUSICAL BREAK!! So I have bad eyes, but didn't feel like shelling out big dough for prescription sunglasses, so I just went hipster old-person style and bought sunglasses big enough to fit over my glasses. And "Cop Shades" by Buck 65 was the appropriate song, but it doesn't exist in a pallatable fashion on YouTube, so you get this instead. And we all go to heaven in a little row boat. VITAL STATS:  My man G-Stamm and his wifey-to-be had a party for her li'l man Evan today. Special shout out to my favorite kid turning five! Sorry I missed it...I had to rest and when I woke up I needed some Dutch Mill chili dogs. And I'm out. Gotta catch up and this and that. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! ** Image ID #1872979 Unavailable ** |
| THE PROMPT: "You are about to die, but have the chance to speak to one person before you pass. Tell us about that conversation." Ugh...but I suppose it's about time. What's up y'all? Time for the "morbid prompts" era of this month's "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" . Not gonna lie; I was hoping we'd be avoiding this. But half of hoping is accepting being wrong.So, let's face it. I've thought about this before. What beans to spill, what lies unfurl, what truths bared, and upon whom these should be unfolded to. And I've come to a conclusion. There isn't a single, solitary person I want my last conversation to be with (although if I'm scheduled to die, there isn't much of a way I can actually plan that out...unless I actually plan, which everyone I would consider for the "last conversation" knows that's something I don't always do very well). I would prefer to go out as a stylish recluse. Alone in my comforts. I would want people to remember me at my most vibrant self; not some shell of a man who can't do the things he used to do 'cuz, he's, well, dying. Much similar to my feelings on how I view others dying...yes, I want to say goodbye, but that can't be my last living memory. So I'm proposing a general "open letter", which I would personally snail mail to all of my closest individual mourners beforehand. Ok, maybe I'd email it to those of which the addresses escape me. It would look something like this: Dear all y'all, As you all may or not be aware, I'm on my last day of suffering from the last day of my life before that car hits me at the intersection and wipes out my memorable existence. It will be a terminal condition that wipes me off the face of society. You're receiving this because we shared something together at one point, big or small. This is not a farewell, but a thank you. To my closest friends: I love you all as my brothers and sisters. You all have helped me become who I am. Whether we were piggy-backing or being the piggy-backers, we had each others' backs 'til the end. I'll never be able to say what it meant or how much, but it was appreciated. I'll be looking up at you from the burning fires of Hell that we'll reconvene in when your numbers are up. To the many lives I've touched when our paths didn't: Your support is immeasurable. I'm just a guy who always played the role of me, and you took it to heart. I can't thank you enough for letting me be whatever part of your lives that I was to you. To the loves found, lost, and in-between: Yes, it was me, and not you. For whatever reasons, I was born without the relationship genes. But I hope I at least enriched your life in some way...the same way I was enriched by you enough to have fallen in love at one point. I'm saving a banquet room down below for all of you so we can all mingle someday. To the family I no longer have: I've said my peace and apologized as much as I can for everything that has happened, but there are two sides to every story. I may not love you for the genes we share, but I can appreciate a lot of shared experiences and good memories. Just, uhhh, watch out for karma (in case it hasn't visited you already). In closing, if you're reading this, I owe you a debt of thanks and gratitude. And I encourage you to pass this letter along to anyone you know who I forgot or couldn't reach. It's been a fantastic roller coaster ride that's coming to the end, my friends. I love you all. The best part of this is you all know what to do without me. Peace, love, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! Respectfully, This guy!MUSICAL BREAK!! In a rare moment of listening to music while typing an entry, I came across this, and yo, it fits. VITAL STATS: I feel bad...tonight's Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals and I was supposed to hang with my boy Adam, but I wasn't up to it. Took a nap after a crappy day at work and I'm still recovering from work and all. But GO KINGS!! I did manage to come across the necessary cables to hook up my new dvd player to the tv in my ManCave, so that's all set. Now I can watch sweet music being played through tiny speakers that deliver surprisingly good sound from the spare Harman/Kardon receiver from DMFM. Yes, I'm an audiophile.  That being said, should everything fall into place, The ManCave will be complete tomorrow. The rest of the pictures will be hung, it will be free of cat hair, and my vision will be 99% complete...just need some cable/satellite down here. Posted on Facebook will be pictures, soon.  And Buffalo radio, what's wrong with you? When I step out into the garage and turn on the radio to the local ESPN Radio affiliate for a few minutes, why are you broadcasting a basketball game? This is a hockey town...it's Hockey Heaven for cryin' out loud. Know your markets!! More people care about Lord Stanley's Cup here than some (I don't even know what it's called) basketball trophy. Get right with this!And with that, I'm out. Gonna find a new dvd to put in, finish off my night, and maybe sleep down here where it's comfortable. I might even figure out a way to segregate my music dvd's from the large crowd upstairs down here. We'll see how that goes. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! |
| THE PROMPT: 1. Read the article below. It's about the rise of 3D Printers. 2. Tell us what you would use your 3D Printer for: around the house, in your life, let your creative imagination loose! 3. Merit Badge for the most creative AND convincing entry! 4. Any questions, make sure you read the article first. It has a very good explanation on how 3D printers work. http://m.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/exec-tech/d-printers-are-finally-bec... Good evening everybody! Wow, that's a fun prompt for this "Funny Friday" episode of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ! Coincidentally, at work today I did some work in our photo lab, and I can vouch for something like this being cool, admired by customers, and its final output being way too freakin' expensive for the crowd that shops at my store.For those who don't have access to the entire article, basically you take this hard plastic, stick it in an oven-like contraption, download an image to it, and a thread-like substance creates that image in 3-D. Fairly simple, and yet kind of complicated. And while I'd love to have one of these in my photo lab, there is one solid reason I am against it. Before I go any further, allow me for the sake of this entry to break down the categories of the clientele in our busy little photo lab: PET LOVERS: These are people who still use 35mm film to shoot entire rolls of their dogs or cats. They're typically older, and/or just lonely. VACATIONERS: More often than not, they're families who go away on exotic trips. They'll take 1,000 pictures on their digital camera, upload them to our website, and expect to get them in half an hour (note: our machine can make about 600 prints in one hour, so no, that's not considered "One Hour Service"). THE GENERAL PUBLIC: I suppose this would be the catch-all category for everyone who's just making random prints of random events that you're too busy to attend because you're making pictures of other people's memories. PARTYGIRLS: A significant proportion of our customer base, actually. They take hundreds of pictures of themselves, usually posing in some kind of awkward stance in front of a mirror (no human spine should curve like that) in various states of dress (or undress) while making an exaggerated face meant to simulate the puckering of lips for a kiss, only it makes them look like a duck. Hence the term, "Duck-faced Girls". Thank you for allowing me to explain a little bit of what our photo techs deal with on a daily basis. Now, back to my point. The article doesn't state how much the final product costs. Given my knowledge of different photo gifts, let's say the pricing is at $100, give or take. I'm willing to guess that the only group of the four I listed willing to make that kind of investment on anything they take a picture of would be, you guessed it, the Duck-faced Girls. And that's where this system starts to get out of control. The article says you can use it to make parts for refrigerators and dishwasher. Duck-faced Girls don't want that, because they don't eat and they don't do housework. They go tanning and partying. Some even go to the gym. So what's the apple of a Duck-faced Girl's eye? Why, a replica of her gorgeous face, making the expression only she thinks is beautiful. She will come in, ask for help on the kiosk when she uploads her image, and will stand around waiting for it, while talking to her "besties" on her cell phone, bouncing back and forth between "impatience" and "expressing sympathy over her bestie's unplanned pregnancy". And one to two hours later, she'll have a mini-her that she can place on top of the bookshelf full of books she doesn't know how to read, just to show off to her friends how "pretty" she is. Oh, and when (or if) she ever decides to settle down, it'll be with a man who thinks it's ok to bring that 3-D image of her likeness to bed with them. Thankfully, there are zero men out there who think this kind of behavior is ok. MUSICAL BREAK!! Let's salute all of those fine women for their photographic prowess one more time, shall we? I know, it's explicit, vulgar and crude, but the last image is absolutely hysterical and on-point. VITAL STATS:  If this gets 10 WDC comments or a total of 20 WDC comments and Facebook likes/comments, I'll post my own Duck-faced picture tomorrow. That's my word.  I thought this was an interesting prompt...I also fear I may have totally flushed it down the drain. Alrightey then...nothing of much importance happened today otherwise, so I'm gonna catch up a little with some people that actually wrote about 3-D printers instead of horrifying females, and go on my merry way. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! |
| THE PROMPT: "Cyberwar - Should governments be using it? WIth all the breaking news about what has been done to Iran lately (and Israel's admittance of using cyber-hacking techniques), how do you feel and what if other countries started using it against your country?" Good evening folks...I'd like to issue a statement before rattling off today's prompt. I'm not even remotely prepared to talk about this subject. I don't follow national and international news nearly as much as I probably should. This scenario sounds like it's built more for George Orwell, the late Ray Bradbury, or <insert your favorite sci-fi, horror, fantasy or mystery/crime author here>. I'm sure it's a pretty serious thing, however...probably more serious than Iran posting on the United States' Facebook page, "Ur a pussy!" or Israel ignoring our Farmville requests. That being said, what do I really think, given my limited knowledge? That would suck. Could you imagine some terrorist jerk running all sorts of wires and cords and satellites into a cave in a Third World country, and then hacking into the mainframe of The Pentagon? Or Amazon.com even? How ironic would it be if he was hacking his power to do all that from the basement in the newly-opened McDonalds in Thirdworldville? "Yes, I'd like the McGoat burger with extra cheese, a side of chips with hummus, a large diet Coke, and access to your circuit panels." "Thank you...camel through." I realize that what I just said may sound racist. It's not. Stereotyping? Perhaps. But come on, the Chinese have been referring to Americans as fat and lazy since the Reagan era. And so what if it's true, China?!...It doesn't make it any better! Now, back to the matter at hand. Yes, that's some scary shit. I'd hate to think that any country would use this as a means for anything, but I guess when world dominance is that attainable, the competitive nature would take over and seek to use anything as a perceived advantage. And what better way to send America (and the world) as message than to take down the internet? Al Gore's already made his money from it, so what does he care? He'd probably appreciate it in his quest for a greener Earth, and just stockpile useless iPads in his shed until he figures out a way to turn them into solar panels that will power his kitchen gadgets. Everyone's got a story for major world occurences. Some remember what they were doing when JFK got shot, or when John Lennon got shot (I was in kindergarten for that one...my first experience with "A moment of silence, please."). More recently, everyone remembers what they were doing on 9/11 (an old co-worker and I exchange Facebook messages every year on that day, as we were driving into work together as it was happening). Things like that are etched in our memories like the ABC's, our first heartbreaks, and the sight of Britney Spears after she went batshit crazy and shaved her head. They almost become a part of our fabric within society. So here's how it's gonna go down for me on the day the terrorists win and destroy the internet as we know it. I'll be in between games of Madden NFL Superstars on Facebook, when I'll get the WDC email for the day's prompt in the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" . And I'll be excited, because it'll be the best prompt ever...one that combines my humor with actual relevance and useful information. And of course, I'll hit send after copy/pasting the link to my Facebook wall, but WDC will have logged me out. The teaser I'll write for it on Facebook will be so awesome, that all 1300+ of my friends will want to check it out. But there'll be nothing to check out, because by the time I've clicked back on the WDC window, all there'll be is the omnious Microsoft "blue screen of death", but with one of those silly Facebook meme's of Saddam and Osama that says, "Hahaha, we got you now, bitches!!". And faster than you can say that the people who used to send you tons of "funny" emails until you told them you don't read them anyway ten years ago are now the people who scour the internet to post 86 random meme's in a row on Facebook and only three of them are truly funny, the internet, and all of communication as we know it in America, will cease. Because without the internet these days, we're pretty damn useless.MUSICAL BREAK!! We will just be known as a society of these... VITAL STATS:  The first day off the blood pressure meds has been mostly a success. As long as you don't count my blood pressure being high. Again. I've regained most of the strength in my shoulders, my chest doesn't feel as strained, and the workday ended with only a minor headache rather than flat-out fatigue. Score! justjessica1 safely touched down in Miami, where she promptly sent me a pic of sunshine, palm trees, blue skies and its "hahaha, I'm on vacation and it's so awesome here"-ness. I was standing next to the office at work, where they frown upon you hurling your phone into a wall and then hurling on it. I thought to myself, "Gee, that looks nicer than the hospital." and responded with "Cool."Eh, I'm runnin' out of ways to make this any bit more long and painful for you all, so I'm gonna go agitate the cats now and call it a night eventually. Here's to peace, love, and never-failing internet. GOODNIGHT NOW!! |
| THE PROMPT: "What is the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? This could be a moment, a place, a movie scene - - Talk about something that has inspired you." Good afternoon everyone...wow, this prompt is kinda tough for me. I've seen a lot of beauty, and I've seen a lot of ugly too during my run on the greatest planet in the galaxy. Are you surprised I already have a song in my head for this entry, before I even have an entry? I've been a lot of places. I've met a lot of people. But there's one thing, in the short study of my imagination, that stands out as the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. That would be the innocence of youth. From seeing the satisfaction on their faces whenever they do something cute, or the way they laugh at the silliest things, nothing's more beautiful than watching a child who's happy and enamored with what he/she is doing. The days when there's not a care in the world, or when all they need to do is set up shop in front of the tv with a coloring book or a few toys, before they're old enough to realize completely what's going on around them...that's the beauty of children. I do not have this fortune regularly. Hardly ever, in fact, which is maybe why I enjoy it so much. I also know that for every moment a little kid is chillin' and behavin' and lovin' life, they're giving their parents three times as much Hell when I'm not around. And like all else, as time goes by, beauty fades. Kids grow up. They become teenagers. They become aware of what's around them and how to use it toward their advantage. They have friends who fill their heads with ideas contrary to what you've spent years trying to teach. And maybe, just maybe, they become politicians. MUSICAL BREAK!! Yes, yes there is. VITAL STATS:  Well, spent the morning and part of the afternoon at the hospital after skipping work with chest pains, palpitations and shortness of breath. I took an aspirin and a long nap, and felt a little better when I woke up, but not 100%, so I made the decision to get checked out today. High blood pressure, had the EKG, that turned out fine, slightly lower blood pressure, so off the meds I go. We'll see in three weeks how that'll work out.And that's enough for the day...I'm off to relax a little. Hafta get up early to take justjessica1 to the airport so I can pretty much have the house to myself so she can see her folks in Miami for the weekend. She can use the break. I could too, but I'm not flyin' anytime soon. Not really for me, no thanks. Anyway, hope your end of the world is pretty awesome...peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! |
| THE PROMPT: "Sweet or sour, is there, or has there been a certain someone in your life who has left a deep impression on you, for however long or brief a time? Friend? Arch-nemesis? Sibling? Mentor? (Parents don't count by the way!)" Good morning fine purveyors of internet literature. On my path and in my travels I've met many people along the way. Some worked for the forces of good, and some were on the dark side. And that's cool; to each their own. My mission was (and is) simple; just being the best me I could and can be. Sometimes that runs afoul of society's norms. Well, to me, society can be a big McDonalds Happyland Play Place. And sometimes, society needs to get over its damn self. I could tell you all about my boys, DMFM and Adam, whom I've referenced in this spot before, and how they shaped who I am in many different ways (since we're not to talk about parents, who did little but offer bad genetics). But really, there's a certain segment of folks out there that I like to refer to as "haters", and their influence has been profound. Haters are always gonna hate; it's what they do and it's in their nature. But it doesn't stop me...it motivates me. So I don't dress like you or act like you or listen to the same music as you, you're gonna hate on me for that? Bitches please...I've got better things to waste a good worry on. It keeps me grounded in who I am, and I'm happy with that guy. I don't need to be somebody else because that's what people want to see. I'll just be me, thank you...open, encouraging, loving, thoughful and thought-provoking. And if that's not acceptable, then we'll just agree to disagree and part ways, no questions asked and no love lost. I've come to find that Haters hate because they're insecure in their own lives. They're not happy, and when they see someone who is, they want to shut that down so they can feel better about themselves. Well, this cat has none of it. And if a Hater can't engage me in an intelligent conversation about their views, their fate is sealed. Don't come to a gunfight with a knife, because I'll own ya. And that's my word. You'll think twice about talkin' about how silly and stupid my hat looks. MUSICAL BREAK!! Big rumor today about some concert information!! I don't even know when the last time this band came here, but I saw this on Facebook and now I'm speculating but the excitement is frantic: "James has a concert anouncement at noon...get your hash pipes ready!" I do not own a hash pipe, but if this band is coming, there is no stopping me from going. VITAL STATS: Tuesday. I've had three days off, and I hate working the night shift. I don't want to go. I really don't want to go. I am in need of a full-on vacation. For reals, playas.And that being said, I'm out. I need to decide what I'm gonna do. Nap, mainline coffee, or something else. Stay cool, peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!! |
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I'm glad you read and enjoyed this, Ann...I know if I were ever presented with the same situation again I wouldn't be as uncomfortable. It's amazing to see how things have changed in five years...I can only imagine how much perception has changed over the last 50. I've always felt that gays were no more or no less than anyone else, and you're absolutely right that they are just like everyone else in 99% of activities. And if that 1% is what creeps people out, well, it's none of their business anyway...and there are better, more tactful ways to respond than with hatred.
