There's blood in the butter

I haven't died

It's been a little while. I was on vacation for the last week and decided that in addition to abstaining from work I'd abstain from blogging as well. It was strange to be honest. There were a couple of things I really wanted to post over the last week so if there is a post that seems poorly timed in the next week or so it's because it's just delayed. Now what did I do for the last 9 days?...

It all started back on the 20th. I was with PMRob and my girl AK. We went to a hip hop show in Fremont. It was aight. A bit crowded for my taste. The older I get the less I want to spend an evening packed in a sweaty club. So we checked the scene for a little while and then bailed. Trotted over to the Red Door. I'll never make that mistake again. I'm going to make this very clear: The Red Door is a cesspool of confused and angry hormones emitted from post fraternity STDs. It's a horrid place. So we left. Ran into an old friend as we were leaving. Went back to the show at Nectar. Saw the group that we paid the cover to see. Left that scene. Walked up the long hill back to PMRob's. Dude we saw at Red Door came over. Insanity ensued. We were up till 5am in some sort of pissing contest about who could drink the most and still burn the late night oil (or early morning). All in all good times...

The weekend was fairly low key. Just lounged about...

Monday I woke up got some work done on Metro, bought a turkey, and then went to visit a friend. Checked out their new house and then hit up the Hop Vine for an afternoon ale. Then I hit up the downtown and met NESF for a bit of lolligaggin'. We went over to his place and played yahtzee and made a pizza. I feel like there were other things we did, but in the end the exact details didn't matter. Another great day down...

Tuesday was the first of many meals involving turkey. My dad and I went to SU to meet up with my sister for a campus Thanksgiving. The food was decent. Company was great. After that we went to the library in Ballard because my dad wanted to get a library card. When we were checking the database realized that I was no longer in there so I got one too. Not really sure how much I'll use it, but it's a good thing to have...

Wednesday was not terribly memorable, which is to say I can't remember...

Thursday the Hart Foundation came over for Thanksgiving. The three of us cooked up the turkey. We also had mash potatoes, stuffing, green beans, Thanksgiving. Watched football. They took off around 7 and I fell into a food coma immediately. Then I woke up at 2am feeling well rested and couldn't get back to sleep. Dinked around a bit and finally got to sleep again around 5am...

Friday was the family holiday. I went to my sisters. She went all out. She's a great holiday host. We played a bunch of Settlers and ate and ate and ate. I also got to see my niece which is a rare thing, so that was nice...

Saturday I entertained a small group of people throughout the afternoon and evening. We played games for the most part. Just takin' 'er real easy. NESF brought the fixin's to finish up a turkey soup. It turned out amazing. I've still got a bunch of it at my house. I think I'll be diggin' on it for a week...

Sunday might actually have been my favorite day of the vacation. I woke up and NESF demanded brunch. We hit up Wingmasters. Decent food. Played a round of BBH. Went back to his place and tossed the dice around a bit more and talked about a project he's had stewing in his mind for a while. The PMRob swooped me up and we went on our third excursion to get him a new phone and glasses. Something always goes wrong. I was completely off guard for what happened though. He was able to successfully purchase both things. I'd convinced myself that no one wanted his money no matter how hard he tried. In the end I guess it just took the holiday frenzy for it to happen. After that I vacuumed my apt (it really needed it) and we went back to his place and made some lasagna and watched cartoons on FOX...

So if you actually took the time to read all of this you'll see that my vacation wasn't terribly exciting. However it was exactly what I wanted...

Friday night

C'mon do you know where that things been?

Yeah, I stole it

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

FML

I don't know why I expect anyone else to understand.

New Animal Collective

It's pretty good. I didn't fall over in ecstasy, but it pleased me.

In its eyes you see

This is a great version of this song. I almost like it more than the album version.

Shifting focus

Well it appears that Buried West is going to stay underground for a little longer. I got home tonight and took the advice I got from NESF to just work on whatever I felt at the time I should be working on. So I started to hammer out some solid details about Metro and made some good headway. I've decided that the routes I'm going to include are 54, 7, 43, 358, 72, 18 and 7 (revisited). I've worked out the themes that I want to address in each section and which previous short stories I'm going to use in the piece. Some of you probably remember the Route 43 story. Well its back on the table and getting reworked, along with a piece I did about the 54. They were actually the inspiration for the larger piece. Somehow I got really productive when I got home and got through the revisions of 54 I planned out to adapt it. Mostly just additions. I guess we'll see where this goes.

If it were only a fear of clowns

I've had trouble falling asleep lately. Last night I laid down at 11:30 like I do pretty much every work night. I felt tired but as soon as I was in bed I couldn't sleep. I laid there for two hours that I remember with a million different thoughts rushing through my head. What is exactly is Hayden teaching in the first chapter? Did I turn off the oven? Is it there something that can be done to make things better or is time the only answer? Should I work on Buried West on my week off or try to finish Metro? What really lies at the deepest parts of the ocean, Atlantis? When I die who do I want to give my eulogy? What if he wasn't really teaching anything and instead they were just painting or sculpting or something? Why can't I just fall asleep. It's been like that for the past two nights. Hopefully tonight will be different, but I don't have any real reason to think that it will be. I just wish that when I can't sleep at least I could come up with some answers.

I think we're dead

Hilarious!

Welcome to November 16th 2009

The Pixies show was awesome! They started off with all the B-Sides and then busted into Doolittle. I was a little skeptical, but that was completely unwarranted. They were amazing. My personal highlights were "I Bleed", "Gouge Away", and "Where is my mind". I didn't expect to hear the last one. They'd already done a couple of tracks for the encore and for some reason some of the theater lights had already been turned on. Then I heard the unmistakable "STOP". The entire venue erupted. It was a great end. Thanks again P...

We're expecting our first serious storm here in Seattle today. Well more tonight. Hopefully I don't lose power. When I get home I might have to dig out the candles just to stay ready. You know, losing power wouldn't be so bad. I'd probably just read Ulysses's by candle light or work more on Buried West. I've been trying to avoid the television more anyway and I think I could get by without my computer. Maybe...

I had a very strange dream last night. It started with me going to my "second" apartment. Somehow in this reality I rented not one but two apartments recently, the one that I live in IRL and then another in Belltown. I reached the building and took the elevator up to the unit. It was huge. The ceilings must have been 14 feet tall at least. I remember a strange array of things. There was a large washer and dryer which I was obsessed with. "Why am choosing the other place when this one has laundry!?" In the kitchen there was a dining room table. It was a large oak table with beautifully hand carved designs on the legs. It was large enough to accommodate 4 chairs on each side with one on either end. The only other piece of furniture in the whole place was a bed. It was immense. The head and foot boards were made of cherry, with the head board standing over six feet tall. The dark red bedding equaled the frame in elegance. The bed was position before three large windows that looked over the Seattle skyline. I don't recall who was there with me but I do remember having a conversation. I pondered why I wasn't going to live here and they reminded me "Steve Rabble is only gone for six month and then you'd have to find another place." This confused me. How did Steve Raible get involved? I don't even watch KIRO news. However we discussed the situation at length while I finished doing my laundry. I took one more walk about the place and left. I was stepping out onto the sidewalk as my alarm went off...

I snoozed for a few more minutes and dreamed again. I sat down on the banks of a river. I was surrounded with various creatures all very small. I turned to my right and spoke to one of them, "What are you supposed to be?" The creature just smiled and put on a pointed red hat. "He's a gnome," a voice said behind me. I turned around to find him smoking a pipe. "And what does that make you?" "Me oh I'm a dwarf. What else would I be?" There was another creature beside him. I pointed in his direction, "So are you a dwarf too?" He looked at me with complete disgust. "Do I look like a dwarf." The half smile on my face told him that I thought so. "Well I'm a Merrman. Not to be confused with Mermaid's because as you can see I'm not a fish." The alarm went off again...

Doin' it in Texas

In my reckless search for great music of the nineties I came across this little gem...

What would I do with a llama?

Well it's official now. The interior water ways of the Pacific NW will be called the "Salish Sea". I didn't figure it would really change much. However I've already heard it referred to as such in two articles. Maybe it will catch on...

I'm really starting to enjoy the Ulysses' book group. When I read that book I only take in about 35% it seems. However when we get together and start talking about it I find that I remember more than I thought. I highly recommend that anyone thinking about reading it does so in a group. The pizza's were amazing too...

I've had a nostalgic longing for nineties music lately. Maybe its because part of me wants to go back to when my life seemed simpler, however I doubt that because my life was hardly simple then. Maybe it's just that there was some decent music back then. Who knows. Anyone out there remember Sponge?...

I'm going to see the Pixies tonight. PMRob is a pimp. I see more shows with him than anyone else by far. He was also gracious enough to spot a broke ass punk like me a ticket. Good people...

Maybe I should get a Llama and dress us both up like ancient Greeks. Oh wait, it's been done...

I guess it could be

Boredom, Headhunters and Constantine's Symbol

My job is horribly boring of late. After my bosses decided that we were going to have to "agree to disagree" I've lost all motivation. It's not that I'm not doing my job. It's just that I don't have any desire to do anything that isn't my job. This has left me with a lot of free time at work. I'd rather have a job that is mentally stimulating, but it's been giving me a decent amount of time to work out the outline for Buried West. I also play a lot of Bejeweled. It's so addictive...

I watched another documentary that I didn't mention last night. It was called "The Airmen and the Headhunters". It was super interesting. I'd recommend you watch it too. Oh how I love PBS. I could watch it all day long if it weren't for the overwhelming number of kids shows during the day. But I guess kids deserve public television too.

I was trying to remember what the Labarum was called. I couldn't remember for the life of me. I knew that Constantine used it in battle so I did a google image search for "Constantine's Symbol". The image below was included in the page one results...

Late night post

I've been working on an old project again lately. It's now my new project. I can't remember if I've blogged about it yet. I'm hoping it turns out to be a novel. Last time I tried to write a novel it came out somewhere in a grey area of literature I didn't know existed and very well may not. It had the basic elements but wasn't told in the way you'd expect a novel. However this time I've decided to be a little more coherent in my attempt. The working title is "Buried West". I'm not sure that will stick, but I have to call it something for now. I'm really hoping to get a good amount of work done on it over my upcoming week off from work. I guess if I really get down to it I might end up participating in nanowrimo. I'm not going to hold myself to that though...

Watched a pretty decent documentary on PBS's P.O.V. tonight, "The Way We Get By". It was about three senior citizens who great troops coming back from overseas. Seemed fitting being it's Veteran's day. Mad props goes out to all the veterans. I'd recommend it...

Mmmm, Coffee

Lost and Found

There was a couple of noteworthy interactions that I had this weekend...

I left work on Friday and it was pouring rain. It was wretched. I went out to wait for the 7. Every part of me was soaking wet. I could feel the water pooling in the crevasses of my hoodie, the tops of my boots, and the inner workings of my ears. It had been a long time since I'd been that wet. After 30 minutes of waiting in God's vengeance the 7 finally arrived.

As I boarded the bus I could tell I wasn't the only one left in the rain. The heat was blaring and the humidity was nearly unbearable. Everyone on the bus looked just as miserable as I did. As I was lamenting my position I got a phone call from Nick. We spoke for a little while and made plans to watch a movie. He had asked me if he should bring a movie, which I confirmed by saying, "Once I get home and dry myself out I'm not going anywhere in this."

The woman in front of me overheard this and turned around to give me a high five. I wrapped up my phone call quickly and started up a conversation with the woman. She told me about how she was regretting her decision to go out and get a gift for a friends baby shower. We exchanged hateful words about the weather and then she began to tell me a story.

Some three weeks prior she had noticed that her bus pass was missing. This was a huge problem being as her arthritis had recently placed her on disability and her fixed income didn't allow for unexpected expenses. However without her pass she'd been having to pay the fare for each ride. So in the last three weeks she'd been searching like crazy to find her pass, with no luck. Now as she was planning her trip downtown to buy a present she decided that she would take the 7 instead of the 106. She hadn't taken the 7 in weeks, but something made her decide to on that day.

She boarded the bus and sat down. Not five minutes later a young man boarded the bus. Upon seeing her he got slightly excited and sat beside her. "I just knew I'd see you again," he said. "I'm sorry have we met before," she replied. "Only briefly. We met on this bus a few weeks ago. Just after you got off I realized that you dropped this.." He then pulled her regional disabled bus pass from his jacket with her picture on it. She could hardly contain herself. She was so grateful.

As she was relaying this story to me she said something along the lines of: "It's just so nice to see. Now I'm not sure if I believe in God but I tell you, there is some higher power out there. These kinds of things don't just happen. And it was a YOUNG person nonetheless. I'm just so happy to see that there is still some good in this world." I replied, "There's always been good out there. It just gets harder to find with every day." At this time we were pulling up the stop at 4th and Jackson, where I had to get off. I thanked the woman for sharing her story with me and got off the bus. The rain was coming down hardest yet. Strange thing was that this time it felt more like a baptismal than a punishment...



Saturday night I met PMRob for dinner. After dinner I expected to go home for a quiet evening but PMRob had other ideas. We went to King's for a beer. The scene was a madhouse so we bailed. Went to the Stepping Stone. Great little place. They had live music and good ales. From there he insisted that we continue one our journey and we went to Copper Gate. Swanky little place. I'd go back, but it would definitely have to be with the right group of people. Now at this point I was completely done with the evening, unfortunately it wasn't done with me. We crossed the street and headed up to the Viking, apparently I was having a vitamin R deficiency. We drank the pitcher of Rainier and I ended up talking to this really chill guy from Germany. We talked for a while about skiing and other such nonsense. The bartender made the announcement for last call and I'd realized that I was out too late. This however still wasn't the end. PMRob convinced me that we had to go back to 7-11 and get some Rainiers to drink while we hit up the wii bowling at my place.
However on the way home from 7-11 I found a phone, Blackberry 8900, just sitting on the sidewalk undamaged. I picked it up. I'd thought of getting one many times in the past but decided against it for financial reasons. After picking up the phone I looked through the recent calls and without even thinking about it called the last number to see if I could determine the phones rightful owner. I called the last three numbers with no answer. Then I started poking around and found the Facebook app on his phone. This identified the man as Rodney and I was able to send him a message over FB. However that would be meaningless as the phone rang.

It flashed the name Stanley as it vibrated. I answered it. A voice on the other end said, "So you made it home Jeff?" This kind of freaked me out at first. Mostly because in some ways I am a Jeff. I recollected my thoughts and replied, "No, I'm not sure he did. I found this phone on the sidewalk." "Well I'd say thats not a good sign at all." "I'd say so." "See this isn't Jeff's phone either. He was keeping it safe for a friend of mine. Is it possible for me to meet with you tomorrow to get the phone back?" "Yeah no problem. Just call me tomorrow at this number."

I then spent the next hour explaining the PMRob the situation with the phone. It was a little complicated and he was struggling to understand all the players in this scene. "So you have Stanley's phone?" "No I have Rodney's phone." "Ok, so who's Jeff? And why are you talking to Stanley?" It went on for some time like that. We were up till nearly 5am bowling and drinking and trying to figure out all the pieces.

I woke up Sunday morning and the phone had been ringing off the hook from a variety of different numbers. I finally connected with Stanley who promptly came and picked up the phone. Later that I day I got a call from Rodney. I guess he wants to buy me dinner. It's not a new phone, but I'll take a free dinner for doing the right thing any day...


As I passed through the warehouse this morning they were playing the Beatles. This pleased me greatly...

The birds...

I might have blogged this before, but it's worth 100 posts if necessary.

Michaelangelo and Calder

I went to the Seattle Art Museum last night. What a great experience! It was the first Thursday so the art museum was open to the public at no cost. At first I was hesitant due to the large crowds that usually go along with a free event. That's the last time that I'll make that mistake.

It was pouring rain when I disembarked the bus beneath the Hammering Man. As I was getting ready to leave work I decided to listen to my favorite track on each Radiohead album in chronological order. It went like this:

Pablo Honey - Creep
The Bends - Black Star
OK Computer - Climbing up the walls
Kid A - The National Anthem
Amnesiac - Life in a glass house
Hail to the Thief - The Gloaming
In Rainbows - Reckoner


Reckoner was wrapping up just as NESF and MNom arrived. The timing couldn't have been better. There we people everywhere as we entered the museum. A couple in front of us were dressed as skeletons and giving out what appeared to be small dead flowers to people at random. There was some sort of band playing. I'm not sure who they were but I was digging the sound. It's always great to hear the museum full of life, as it's usually a very quiet place.

We ascended the escalator to find a GIANT line to get tickets. The museum was free, but they still require everyone to get a ticket. Fortunately I am a SAM member (thanks Claudia!) so we were able to go to the member's line which was nonexistent and breezed right through.

We spent a little time checking out the new acquisitions on the way up to the fourth floor. There are some great new pieces. I'm a total idiot and didn't write down the names of the pieces or the artists name (I'll try to go back to get that info). However there is one I believe was titled "Untitled (Dining Room)" that I absolutely loved. Also the piece on the same wall to the north I loved.

So we get up to the fourth floor to see the Calder/Michaelangelo exhibit. There was a small line to get in that moved fairly quickly. It starts you off with Calder. Wow. I was thoroughly impressed. The way that he was able to create these beautiful pieces is amazing. It became even more amazing when I realized how many of them were balancing on display. I didn't even consider that part of it with the hanging pieces until I came to a large piece that was moving ever so slightly. It blew my mind.

As I got further into the exhibit I realized that this mans talent went far beyond just sculpture. There was a small section (i wish they'd had more) of his jewelry displayed. One of the highlights though was a short film they were showing "Calder's Circus". I'm going to have to find a copy of that on DVD. It was hilarious.

After the short film came Michaelangelo. I have to admit I was less that impressed with this exhibit. The majority of it was prints of his larger works. For instance, they had a small replica of how they moved "David" and behind it a large image of the original. It's was cool to see the piece in full size however I'd have liked it more if they had multiple images from different angles. It was the standard front shot of the sculpture that we've all seen a hundred times. If they had incorporated various views I think that it would have been much more insightful and beneficial.

In the following rooms there were the actual sketches that he did. I think that they did this better. They had sketches that he did as a preliminary for the Sistine Chapel, both the ceiling and the "Final Judgement". It was very interesting to see the process he went through. The other really cool thing was the quotes of his that they had all over the exhibit. There were some killer ones. The one that stood out the most to me was at the end: "I am dying just as I am beginning to learn the alphabet of my profession."



Overall I'd recommend that you all check it out. It'd be an afternoon well spent.

"I hate boars"

Now I don't hate boars, but PMRob does. However for some reason he had a lot to say about them this afternoon. I've decided to share a bit of it with your for your amusement, however it has been edited to by request (I only used like 4 of the 10 rhymes)...

PMRob: board
Desomniac: board?
PMRob: bored
Desomniac: OH
PMRob: BOARD
boared
as in i was walking through the forest when i was boared...



Desomniac: GORED!!!!
PMRob: gored by a boar
Desomniac: I was so bored I boarded a boar who gored me in the bore
PMRob: no no
because if you boarded a boar i am sure it wouldnt be boring
and similarly if a boar gored you while in the act of bore i am certain that the bore would break
PMRob: the boar who snored cannot roar because he's sore?



PMRob: a hord of gored and sore boars who snored and roared soared through fjords aboard flying goards that pored smores
FTW
Desomniac: FTW is right
PMRob: YES!



PMRob: hords of sore boar whores with smores on there sores roared as they gored goards with boards in the fjords of lahore?
wow that took a lot out of me
Desomniac: that's one hell of a tongue twister
PMRob: ok last one
PMRob: hords of sore boar whores, with smores on there sores, roared toward goards with swords in a fjord of lahore who soared upon majical boards toward rewards
Desomniac: wow
wow
PMRob: i hate boars
Desomniac: LOL
can I blog those?
PMRob: only the best 2 of the bunch
i gots a headache now



PMRob: the gored boar snored and roared aboard a goard floating down a fijord?
i really like that one
its simple
PMRob: its so beautiful (its so lovely)
Desomniac: word

Welcome, death, pain and art

About 25% of my viewers over the last month have been outside of the United States. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome all of you. I hope that by reading my blog you find that we're not all as bad as our government has represented us abroad...

I finally threw out the ficus. It was dead. Had been for a couple weeks. I'd given all I could and it wasn't enough. Let this be a lesson to all of you: Don't let your anyone put miracle grow on your plants. Even if its struggling. It won't help...

I've got a horrible kink in my neck today. I must have slept on it wrong. Probably is that it's starting to give me a head ache...

I'm going to see the Michaelangelo exhibit at the SAM tonight. Should be good. I'll give y'all a run down tomorrow...

I want to give up today

GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!

Seriously. Do it now. You don't have much time. For each of you that doesn't vote the Chinese are going to kill a baby. Well maybe not that extreme, but still. If you don't vote the system fails. It only work effective if EVERYONES voice is heard. For those of you in King County who didn't get a ballot go here! I was there yesterday (thanks dad). They'll set ya up. I STRONGLY recommend that if you do that you have them print you a replacement ballot. DO NOT USE THE MACHINE!! If you do and there is any problem with your ballot it probably won't be counted. If you did get a ballot and just need to sent it in here is a list of places you can drop it off.
If you're not in King County there are still resources available to you. Hit up the Secretary of State's website for more info.

Now I know I've said it before, but the single most important issue on your ballot is Ref 71. We need to APPROVE REF 71. If it fails it could open the door to a whole new wave of state sanctioned discrimination. If we can deny these couples rights by referendum who's to say that the next ballot measure won't be to take away civil liberties from another group of people. We need to all stand up and say "Washington isn't a home for discrimination".



Oh yeah, one more plug. NO ON I-1033!!! I don't know why we even let Eyman propose initiatives anymore.

Eddie Vedder? Really?

Had a dream last night that I was at a show where Eddie Vedder was performing. I'm not sure it was Pearl Jam, but they played some Pearl Jam tracks. At one point he walked out into the crowd and smoked a joint with a group of teenagers. He played a few more tracks and then went into a Q&A of sorts. I don't recall the questions asked, mostly because not of the people were given a microphone and it was very noisy. Eddie seemed mostly offended by what the people had to say. He went back into the crowd to finish the joint and then played for a while longer. Not a bad dream, but why Eddie? I'm not even really a fan...