My Stupid, Aching Ass

Monday August 13 – Wed August 15

Ran out of journal.  Yes I still write these things in actual books.  Forests have been razed for the sake of my bitching,  If that isn’t the worst use of natural resources since the Grand Marquis I don’t know what is.

Nothing really to catch up on, and yet I’ll still try.

Work is kicking my ass and that is a good thing.  Anyone that sees my ass tends to think it is in need of a good kicking.  Even I like the misagosh.  It makes me feel mild to moderately useful.

Ate too much damned fucking bad stuff over the weekend and still feeling the effects of my fall. 

Thursday August 16

Took Alex to the old timey Sycamore Theater after work to see the new Bourne movie.  It’s not actually new.  They’re all the same movie, but it’s fun to take the boy to a generic spy picture.

SOX kick the ever-loving shit out of the Blue Jays and I couldn’t be happier.

Take that Canada!

Friday August 17

Overtime.  There could be more  Shell Game Follies coming in the future.  I want to be ready.

When will I learn you can never be totally ready for anything in this life?  The answer is, never.  Definitely never.  I will always try making plans for things you can’t make plans for.  It is my nature.

Stupid nature. 

If I was the toad I’d try to plan to take the scorpion across the river at the best time of the day to die.

Fun night with the Smiths.  Lothsons chicken, whiskey and cards.  Now that’s a good time.  Greasy fingers, brown liquor and losing.  I love it.

Saturday August 18

Billy Butler continues to do bad things to the Chicago WhiteSOX.   KC takes the first two.  I’d be more upset but I sort of expected this, and the season has been so much fun there were bound to be some bumps in the road.  This is one.  A big, fat bump….named Billy Butler.

Cut grass, golfed, injured myself with the five wood.  Fucking fairway woods.  It’s my own fault I still haven’t figured out how to hit those shots.  My bad.  My total bad.

Alex got his copy of the Hunger Games this morning.  We were supposed to watch it but I fell asleep.  Probably for the best.

Sunday August 19

Birthday party for Eli.  Chris’ boy is two and a happy two year old from what I can tell.  Some kids his age do not like their birthday party or will do their best to sabotage it.  Not Eli.  He’s got the right attitude in this crazy, gone mad world.

Here’s hoping that attitude lasts a lifetime for that special little guy.

Late Sunday dinner at my house.  I ate way too much today, and really the whole fucking weekend.  I feel like I simply ate the weekend.   But at least I managed to make it through the end of the weekend with no Sunday Boozin’

Monday August 20

Cash for studio – HyVee for Cookie’s food & Kind Bars – Get info on Disc Makers (I am so old timey)

We changed the Thoughts on Grass and Aging to Downtime (and there will be one more name change for that track)

Busy day sending product back to customers from NC and trying to deal with people who need things from our friends in MN.  In between I fielded a few calls but no major craziness.  I served in Da Nang with Major Craziness.

Ok, no I didn’t.

But you don’t know!  You weren’t there man!  You couldn’t possibly know that I wasn’t there either.

Drove out to Larry’s and put a vocal on a thing I am now calling Downtime.  Pretty good work but I have to change some words at the end.  They sound bad.  I just mean the sound of them is bad.  The sound of these words might be better from some other throat but not mine.  I think I know how to end the piece but it will require one more session and one more title change.

SOX beat the Yankees.  I just can’t see how the Yankees have already won over 70 games.  Their pitching is bad.  They’ve got guys in the bullpen giving up opposite field home runs to Gordon Beckham.  That just shouldn’t be.

Tuesday August 21

Alex spent all day riding bikes with friends.  Great to see him going all over the neighborhood, enjoying the last days of his 2012 Summer Vacation.  Took the boy and his pal Michael for ice cream while they helped me run errands.  Cool.

WhiteSOX have now taken the first two games from the Yanks.  Nice bounce back (not to be confused with Sam Brownback, I don’t want anything bouncing off that turd) after being swept by the Royals.  Thank goodness the SOX won’t have to face KC in the playoffs – EVER!

There’s no chance of KC making it this year, should the SOX be able to hold on and qualify for post-season play, and should Kansas City, who have been forever on the rise (they must’ve been somewhere below anything Dante imagined) ever get good enough to win the AL Central it will most likely be because the SOX and Tigers and Twins are bad

And Cleveland continues to be Cleveland

Re: Urlacher’s “special treatment” – is it cheating if it doesn’t work?

Wed August 22

Driving back to work today after a quick stop home in the afternoon, saw Alex with six or seven of his friends mounting bikes, donning helmets and wearing backpacks.

Do you wear a backpack or carry one?  Probably an irrelevant question

But I saw these guys getting ready to do something or go somewhere with their bikes, so…

Me: “What’s going on?  It’s like a meeting of the Hell’s Angels or something.

Alex: “We’re going to ride our bikes to the library.”

Me: “NERDS!”

Alex: “Where are you going?”

Me: “uh…back to work.”

Alex: “Ha ha”

Touché

The boy is loving his new bike – Razor, aka The Beast

Also got him some hex wrenches so he can now make all the necessary adjustments without rooting through and bringing up all of our tools every five minutes.

Kim spent the evening getting her classroom ready.  Alex and I went for all-you-can-eat pasta at Twins and watched the WhiteSOX.  Sale fanned fifteen and completed the first home sweep of the Yankees since Robin V was a player.

Alex said, “Chris Sale is pitching great this year.”

I nodded while in my head thinking ‘they keep pitching this kid like this and his little noodle arms are going to go flying off’

And I know something about this because I’ve been reading up on what happens to starting pitchers their first full season in the big leagues.

I also can relate to Sale as my arms of the noodle variety.

Aw who am I kidding, I am not going to fret over the SOX.  I’m just going to enjoy the good baseball while it lasts.  That is what baseball is for, to be enjoyed.  The fun will end soon enough.  Don’t poo poo it while it is here.

There’s enough poo poo in this dumbass, old world

Thursday August 23

Lance Armstrong, stripped of his bike-riding prizes?  What a kick in the ball.

At least he’ll have retirement benefits from the post office to fall back on when the endorsements dry up.

Oh, waitaminute…

Actually if Lance had his way he’d probably raid the pension fund, just like he raided his bogus charity for the legal defense he’s now officially abandoned.

What a vainglorious bitch!

He gives cancer a bad name.

Oh yeah, like I don’t

SOX get a night off, but no night off for our favorite teacher as Kim works hard on her classroom into the evening.  Meanwhile Alex and I have a nice dinner, watch part of the Hunger Games (ugh) and a p[retty good Nova doc on dreams.

Friday August 24

Last Episode of Star Trek NG for Family Movie Night.  We’ve seen them all now.  Covered seven seasons in a little more than three years, hoping like hell that in the process we have not caused some sort of temporal rift.

Yeah, I’m that kinda intergalactic idiot.

Saturday August 25

Yesterday evening, Alex and his friends heard a crash and rode their bikes over to investigate. Oblivious of the crash, I was walking the dog, trying to find the boy to let him know he had to come home and chill or he had to run errands with me.

To my horror I learned of the crash and found that Alex and his friends were aping the actions of all the other so-called adults and trying to get the closest possible look at the accident in order to speculate on what happened.

Now kids do not know any better, but I thought they were getting too close to police and emergency vehicles.  I yelled out, “Alex get back here!  We’re not rubberneckers!”

…in front of all the other neighbors, straining their necks and eyes to get a view of this calamity so close to them.

And that, among several thousand other reasons is why I am the most unpopular man in our neighborhood.

Ok, on to today.  Alex and I got up early and drove out to visit my folks.  Kim worked around the house and in her classroom all day getting ready for the new school year.  Proud of that girl.  Meanwhile the boy and I followed my folks all over the walking path at Dellwood Park.  Alex loved the little ravines.  I forgot how beautiful parts of that park are, although the creek is pretty much dried up.

Lord willing, the creek will rise again someday.

Huh???

Made it back to town and picked up Lothsons’ so my lady didn’t have to cook after working on a Saturday.  Love that girl.  Love her even more than I love chicken and whiskey.

AND I SERIOUSLY FUCKING LOVE CHICKEN AND WHISKEY!

So brown, so peaceful

I think I sort of sorted out the Get a Horse music plan, or what I’d like to do with the thing going forward so I can keep working whether or not Chris and/or Joe are able.  The show in May was fun but I think so much has happened to those guys since then, I’m not sure when or how we’d be able to get something like that together again…I hope we can but can’t put all my hopes on that possibility.

It’ll just keep me down, more depressed and I don’t need that

Sunday August 26

First Get a Horse ep/cd single

ONE      – Quantum Moment Misadventure

TWO     – Every Day is a Big Night Out

THREE  – Wine and Soul Food

FOUR     – Unmentionables

FIVE      – Ruby Street Broken Bridgesongs

SIX        – North

Picked up a copy of Don DeLilo’s Underworld from Frugal Muse yesterday.  Six bucks.  Not bad.

The more I think about my running list of Get a Horse ep’s/cd singles/whatever the more I think I need to talk to Larry about pressing plants he recommends.  That just makes things easier and I need easier at this point.  Better would be nice too!

Even if I just do a run of 50 for each EP, it’s 50 better looking things, rather than the damned boxes I did before.

More as my thought evolves, or devolves on this later.

SOX take all three from the M’s!  Seattle is so bad that, even though the SOX seemed determined to lose all three games…the badness of the Sea-men (sorry Hawk) just wouldn’t allow that to happen.  I love when good baseball triumphs over bad.

Eight game winning streak for the Mariners my stupid, aching ass!

You Get What You Get No Matter What You Think

Sunday August 5

Did the 2^nd reading and petitions at 8am Mass then spent the better part of the day editing with Hin ‘n Run and later the WhiteSOX game in the background.  SOX won Friday, lost Saturday and won the rubber match today.

NOT THAT YOU SICK BASTARDS

…although I am sure lots of rubbers are used when the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are in town.  I don’t know why I need to suggest the Angels are more promiscuous than any other team in MLB but I just did.

AJ’s hit a home run in each of the last five games he’s played.  Today he hit one in the only chance he had at the plate.  Robin gave him the day off but then brought him in to pinch hit in the 8^th.  AJ’s two run homer put the SOX up for good.  He’s hit more home runs this season than he has on any of his previous seasons and he is in his mid-30’s.  Somebody should either drug test AJ or check my tv.

Something’s wrong here

Monday Aug 6

Missing Kim and Alex like crazy but doing good work on Kish and setting up MOI for a next (and hopefully final) round of editing.

Nancy S invited Alex and I to a Hawks preseason game.  Sweet.  The seats sound better than we are used to at the United Center.  That’s our pal Nancy, calss all the way.  I think the last time we got the seats we were in the absolute last row...technically I think they were just four seats bolted in behind the last row, after the fact.

We were in the afterthought section, behind Bob You-know-who-ker.

Sorry Brewers fans

SOX win behind the strength of a late inning Beckham homerun.  Strength may be a relative term when it comes to the South Side 2^nd Sacker, but  I am happy for the kid.

Took Cookie on a walk through Afton.  Lots of smells.  She loved it as much as a being with a brain that size can love anything.

Finished the first season of Boardwalk Empire.  Relieved that MOI covers different ground (lower) than this lovely/gritty Prohibition drama.

Enjoyed the program over a decent steak-to-go from Applebeez.  I am a little ashamed that I went to that place – but at least it didn’t make me get Josh Hamilton drunk.

Tuesday August 7

Golfed at South Pointe after work.  The first two holes – GREAT!

Then things went to hell, and just when I thought I got myself right around the 5^th hole, things went to worse hell.

Stopped at a gas station on the way home and almost lost my mind.  I wasn’t feeling crazy because my golf game went bad.  I expected that to happen.  I’d feel sort of crazy if it didn’t.  I flipped out in my head (if one can, in fact, flip out in one’s head) because a guy smoking a giant-ass cigar pulled into the pump next to mine and preceded to smoke and fill his tank.

As a reformed smoker, seeing people smoke does not bother me.  Seeing people smoke at a gas station drives me insane.  I’ve got nothing against smoking.  I also have nothing against self-immolation - - I just don’t want to see some dude burst into flames (possibly taking the whole Road Rager with him) while I am in the middle of paying too much for gas.

SOX get beat by KC.  Billy Butler was up to his old tricks, and by that I mean banging WhiteSOX pitching all over the yard.  Stupid Billy Butler.  Only in baseball can someone that doughy be dangerous.

Wed August 8

Had a chance to leave work early, so I did what any good American would do.

I fucking left.

Golfed, then headed home for too much lunch and editing.  I hate lunch but sometimes I feel compelled to eat it.  Also like a good American…

At some point my over-eating and word-scrutinizing were interrupted by a phone call.  It was a woman named Alexa from WhiteSOX promotions.

Yeah, we’ve gone to a lot of games this year.

She was trying to see if we were interested in any of the remaining 8 games plan (I think).  I politely told her, “No our schedule isn’t that flexible and we like buying the cheapest seats in the park…and if it is a good day then going to guest services to pay for upgrades.”

She asked a few questions and then said, “Thanks.  Let us know how the WhiteSOX can make your fan experience better.”

Just then I glanced at the internets and noticed the WhiteSOX had just put tonight’s starters vs. KC on the web page so I said, “Yeah, tell Robin not to let Orlando Hudson DH ever again.  I just saw tonight’s lineup and now I want to throw up.”

 Thursday August 9

Fat.  Glad Kim is back in town.  I eat like shit when she is gone.  Missed my best girl and our boy while they were in Seattle.

Determined to build on the good work I did while they were gone.    There’s one part of the presentation in the book and record presentation that is difficult to sort out.  I have made it difficult.  I have made it more difficult than it needed to be and I am in the middle of living with the consequences of that decision if one can call it a decision.

That’s the great thing about life and decisions if you think about these things correctly….

You get what you get, no matter what you think.

Need to get my amp back from MM.  Need to see if Joe and Chris are interested in revisiting some of the stuff that was good from the show in May and if they want to try some of the new things I’ve got brewing.  Then need to move on from there.

Cookie and I made the airport run and picked up Kim and Alex from Midway.  Came back to DeKalb and enjoyed a happy family reunion dinner.  The Loco.

Watched part of a Albert Einstein documentary and the whole family fell asleep together on the couches.

Friday August 10

Product from North Carolina all over my desk, and it seems, halfway up my ass.  I don’t want to complain.  It is good to be busy.  It is good to have a job.

Family Movie Night was Star Trek (before dinner) and Last Continent, a documentary about Antarctica for dessert.

Cool

Saturday August 11

Wrote bills and got caught up on credit card receipts.  Had to be done.  Had to get out of the house, away from my guitars and away from my tired family members who were just trying to relax on a Saturday after a long trip.

Me being around is not always the best thing for them.

Sunday August 12

Penny and her new friend Tim took us to the SOX game.  We sat 19 rows behind home plate.  Two scouts from some other MLB club were just in front of us.  These were simply the best tickets I ever had to anything.

Sale pitched great, the SOX put up some runs in support of his fine efforts, and AJ homered and took advantage of Oakland’s boobery in the field.

Alex and I sat there with our mouths open most of the game, in awe of the view of our beloved SOX.

I am also in awe of the power of love, amazed by people and once again surprised by how wonderful they and this life can be. 

Thoughts on Grass and Aging

I pick you up down on John Street
On an aimless Saturday
While you're on the phone with him
I stand there and wait
We can always get away
It's just up to you now
We can always stay
With anyone we choose now

It's not a witch she will not float
And we've done more than all she wrote
I'll take a vow to act my age
And then rebuild my rattled cage

The grass was warm but the water was cold
Our love was strong the nights were slow
That was when we understood
Our love was right and life was good

When life was good and we were young
It left a mark it made me numb
My eyes were red your eyes were green
Now they're all closed crushed up into dreams

I will rebuild my rattled cage..
I'll take the pills to kill the passion
Till all this shit comes back in fashion

Good Music and a Gentle Breeze

Productive night, editingwise (not a word).  Came home in enough time to take Alex, Michael and Cookie to see the DeKalb Municipal Band.   Beautiful evening in the park, good music and a gentle breeze.  The only disturbing part was the end of the show.  They closed with Strauss' Die Fledermaus.

I just kept thinking, "Oh no!  I hope somebody doesn't come out here and shoot up the joint."

I know I am an idiot...but at least I am a semi-culturally refined idiot.