We'll now be returning to regularly scheduled service

It's been four days. Sorry for the lapse in service. We're working with our contractors to ensure this sort of disruption doesn't happen in the future...

I'd like to start by giving a huge shout out to ElizaBeth for sponsoring me in the MS Walk. You're awesome!!!

I was ill last week. It wasn't very pleasant. Didn't go to work on Friday and then spent the rest of the weekend taking it real easy...

NESF and I are rewatching Lost Season 5. All we have left is the finale tonight and then tomorrow Season 6 begins. I can't wait. I've got all kinds of theories right now about what's going on. SPOILER ALERT!!! For instance I've convinced myself that the reason that some people are in the past and some in the present is Jacob. Jacobs dies at the end of the fifth season, but they also detonate the bomb. So I'm starting to think that while the nemesis is controlling everything in the present, Jacob is the one who's influencing events in the past, hence negating his own death and staying a step ahead of his nemesis. Anywho. I can't wait for the new season!!!

I do the Newsday and NYTimes crossword everyday. Monday's are by far the easiest day. Friday and Saturday it's unbelievably difficult to finish. It leads to my going back and forth as to whether or not I'm any good at them. Right now I feel like a master, ask me at the end of the week and I'll feel like a hack...

I watched what might be considered an unhealthy amount of CSPAN in the last 96 hours. I couldn't stop. Lost was the only thing that could tear me away. There was some good stuff though. The POTUS's soiree with congressional republicans was actually very interesting to watch as was the confirmation hearing of Bernanke and the questioning of Geithner about his involvement with AIG. So much going on...

I need to find a video of Pink's grammy performance. I hear it was out there. A colleague of mine told me about it, which led to my finding this pic:



And then this one:



Looks like it was pretty amazing...

Stanwood, Fairhaven and those majestic Douglas Firs...

CAUTION: This is a long meaningless post of events. It is probably of little concern to any of you. And as such...

On Saturday morning I woke up at 9:30am. It was a little later than I had wanted to and I'd already missed a phone call from my father. I called him back and to be honest I'm not sure why he wanted me to call him. I think it had something to do with computers. But as is standard between the two of us it turned into an exchange of political ideology. I got so wrapped up in it, I didn't realize the time had passed and NESF was waiting for me on the street.

I rushed to get a few things together and ran out the door. He had MNom's car (props to MNom!) and I got into the small red civic, ready for the road. We made a quick stop at Northgate to get a boot and then it was time to head north.

We were both hungry and becoming increasingly so as we passed through Marysville. I saw a sign that said "Stanwood" and remembering my time there as a child decided that it was the perfect place to find a diner. Just off the freeway there is only a gas station, burger joint and coffee barn. We headed a little further in to find a serious of offensive strip malls. In an attempt to find the "old town" we headed down a road that gave us a few of the sound through a cemetery. There was a strange feeling like I know someone there, and I may very well, but its not who I thought it was.

The road wrapped back around to reveal what we'd been looking for, the old town. Large rusting metal structures rose sporadically around the small line of shops and restaurants. We decided that we should just walk the area to find a place, the car would be too confining to really get a feel for it all.

For there not being too much there, Stanwood had a pretty decent selection of restaurants. We ended up at a little breakfast joint called "The Duck In". As soon as we walked in I knew we were in the right place, and the wrong place. As a city dweller I find that once you get away from the urban density people tend to look at you different, as if to say, "Oh, you're one of them." It wasn't completely overwhelming in at "The Duck In" but it was there. They knew where we were from.

We ordered our breakfast, which was neither terrible nor fantastic. The best part about the whole thing was when we were leaving. NESF noticed a CD for sale by the register. On the cover there was a man with a mustache and a big cowboy hat. He then turned just slightly to see that the man on the CD was sitting at the bar, wearing the hat. It was all too perfect.

We got back to the car and continued our path north. It should be noted that last week we'd agreed to each buy two of the reissued Pavement albums, and we'd both received them on Friday. So we were listening to Wowee Zowee cruisin' up I-5. I'd forgotten how pleasant the drive is once you break free from Burlington. Steep slopes rise up from nothing in chaotic patterns and covered in the fantastic trees we've got growing around here. Big, majestic. Douglas Firs. "Douglas Firs..."

It should also be noted that the final stretch into Bellingham is a bit treacherous. You have to be constantly alert for falling rocks. We were able to navigate the wandering rocks and instead of being crushed alive I actually got to see a little waterfall on the side of the interstate.

We exited the freeway and drove the short distance down into Fairhaven. Fairhaven. Just the name has a magical quality to it. Fairhaven.

We parked the car on the south side and took to the ground. The first matter of business was to find a ale. We walked up and down the streets with no luck. We found a couple of wine bars, but no tavern or ale house or beer room, not even just a standard bar. We contemplated asking someone, but never did, I think it's because it was only shortly after noon and neither of us wanted to come across as a drunkard, even to complete strangers.

After we thought we'd seen it all with no success I noticed a small sign with hands pointing in various directions. Sure enough one of the hands pointed us in the right direction "Archer Ale House" half a block away. Not ten minutes before we'd walked past it and completely missed it, probably because the place was underground.

We descended the rough stone staircase to find exactly what we were looking for. It was early, so only a few committed basketball fans were there. We ordered a couple of IPA's and found a cribbage board. I lost. Badly. Well I didn't get lurched or anything like that, but I lost. We finished our second pint and decided to venture out into the bookstore.

Village books is a great bookstore. It's three levels and in the back is a nice little park. They mix the used in with the new, which I like. It also has a generally pleasant atmosphere. We wandered the shelves for a while before I purchased a couple of books, Demian by Hesse and the new DeLilo novel.

The books went to the car and while we were getting back into the heart of Fairhaven I got a painful lust for nachos. There was a Mexican place by the sign of hands so we dipped in. The woman handed us menus and told us that there was a table upstairs while she wandered off into the kitchen. This should have been a sign of things to come, but we didn't catch it.

We ordered some nachos and soup. The nachos were a little intimidating. It was a massive plate of goodness. But as time passed the chips got soggy, making the whole thing very difficult to attack and as much as we tried we couldn't finish them all. Then came the waiting. We had made it very obvious that we'd finished eating and were waiting for a check. Waiting. Waiting. Thought about just dippin' out the side door. They could never find us. Waiting. Waiting. Really if they wanted us to pay they'd bring us a check. Waiting. Maybe they forgot about us. Waiting...

Finally we got up and went downstairs. I stared at the women who gave us the menus as she talked quickly with our waitress. They fumbled with the computer, every once in a while looking over at us with terror. We should have just left. It appeared that they didn't have our check and they had to recreate it. They never would have known. We paid them got the hell out of there. Moral of the story: Don't eat at Milagro's.

We headed out and decided that we should walk off the gut bomb of cheese we just ingested. Luckily there was a little path nearby. We walked along, overheard a couple discussing the politics of health care, lamented the blackberries and ivy along the trails edge (PMRob was mentioned as a solution), noticed a used bookstore up the hill. We reached the end of the trail and there were some kids smoking pot by an dilapidated barn like structure. I really wanted to go inside of it, but I didn't want to deal with the stoners.

Back up on the street we dipped into the before mentioned bookstore. Wow. Wow. It was great. There were piles of books everywhere. At first glance there didn't seem to be any order to how the books were arranged. After about ten minutes I got the structure down. I wandered through the aisles looking at books about UFOs, how to raise sheep, Ecotopia, etc.

NESF went up to the counter to purchase a book about Joyce's Ireland. The man behind the counter started the transaction by saying, "thanks for checkin' in with us." A very strange thing to say to someone that you've never met before. I concluded that he was in fact a trans-dimensional being and that in one of this other realms of existence NESF is his colleague and works in the bookstore with him. That still didn't explain the "us" so much. And so ended our time in Fairhaven.

We returned to the Civic and headed south back down the interstate. All in all a good trip, perfect day long escape...

But logic broke...

On Saturday, after I got back from my sisters, I went to Half Priced Books in the District with NESF. We took the bus there and bummed about the store for a while. As we were leaving we just barely missed a bus. Instead of just waiting for the next we decided to walk for a while. We crossed I-5 and started the trek through Wallingford. It was a great winter day that seemed more like spring. As we closed in on the old Hollywood video a strange encounter fell upon us. With out any warning a man appeared behind us, as if he had just materialized there. He was a short man, wearing a black leather coat with a waist band and a black hat. As he moved forward he decided to pass right between us, his gaze constantly focused on me. For some time he stared directly at me. I felt vulnerable like he was about to attack me when he spoke, "Sorry, you look like someone I haven't seen in a very long time." "Oh," was all I could think to say. As he sped off ahead of us I could still see his eyes staring at me. Neither myself nor NESF could figure it out at first and then it came to us. Time Traveler. We were encountered by a man taught free of the future. I'm still not sure what his mission was, but I think it was very clear that he was supposed to initiate that interaction. It was so nice outside that we continued walking all the way back to Ballard.

It never stops

Some times I feel like it's impossible for me to finish anything. I had the "wrap up" meeting with NESF last night about the 7 project. It's not over. I really shouldn't complain because the changes we talked about are going to take it from good to great. I'd just really like to get to a point with at least one project where I'm done. That's why I think that I'm going to break up the Metro project more than I originally intended. While it's going to be a novel in the end I'm just going to take it one story at a time and hopefully the sense of completion will encourage me to continue, instead of dragging on and then me getting discouraged. We'll see what happens.

However like I was saying after this revision it's going to be done. So then comes the step of trying to get it published. If any of you can think of a journal or review that you think it would work well it hit me up in the comments. Right now it was recommend that I start with Zyzzyva so I can get my first rejection out of the way quickly. Any other input would be greatly appreciated.

Finally a lil old skool pic...

"Get the fuck outta m'way" or What we did instead of going to Joanne Fabrics

I got home last night and was watching a lil TV when I got a text from the NESF. Earlier in the day we'd briefly discussed getting together. I replied to the text and then decided it best to just call him. The conversation went something like this:

NESF: This is [desomniac]
Desomniac: Excuse me?
*grumbles*
Desomniac: Did you just say you were PMRob?
NESF: No, this is [desomniac]
Desomniac: Oh well then...this is [NESF]?
*strange noises mixed with silence*
Desomniac: Can we start again?
NESF: I'm sorry I'm having trouble communicating today.
*forgotten words*
NESF: So what are you thinking?
Desomniac: Oh I dunno, Morocco?
NESF: Joanne Fabrics?
*laughter*
Desomniac: I guess Joanne's would be closer.
NESF: Than Morocco? Yeah.

Then there was a back and forth about insecurities and the unsavory nature of the crowd at Joanne that I can't remember exactly. After some time we got back on track.

NESF: Well are you thinking you want to do something there? Or here? Somplace else?
Desomniac: Well I spend a lot of time here. You probably spend a fair amount of time there. Maybe we should go somewhere we don't see all the time.
NESF: Some where to get a beer?
Desomniac: Oh a beer sounds nice.
*I went to get a beer out of the fridge*
NESF: With some buck hunter. But not the high def.
Desomniac: Where would we find such a place?
NESF: Well there's the Loft...or that strange place next to the chinese restaurant I was telling you about.
Desomniac: Strange? Chinese restaurant? I'm in.
*chuckles*
NESF: Alright well get down here.
Desomniac: I have to finish this beer.
NESF: You opened a beer?
Desomniac: Well yeah, you put the idea in my head. Let me pound this back and I'll be down.
NESF: Late.

So I finished my beer rather quickly and snagged a bus down the hill. After meeting up we went in search of a cash machine. In order to avoid surcharges NESF opted to just buy something at Bartell's. Beatles calendar? Yes but no. Coffee's not cheap enough. Cards! Playing cards were the answer. Then we got sidetracked in the toy section reminiscing about miniature pool tables and realistically designed dinosaurs. For a moment we considered stealing all the prize tickets from the beanie babies, but that too was dismissed. Did you know that they still publish Archie comics? The checker was a nice guy. Didn't say too much. Do you need a bag? NESF placed the deck of cards in his super hidden interior pocket. I say interior purely as a guess because this compartment is so secret I couldn't see where they went. A green tinsel wreath as spotted as we left, it would have been just as good as cards.


We reached our destination and took note of the scene. The location was strange to say the least. We entered through a door that led into a very well lit room void of people that housed a ping pong table, two pool tables, Fish Tales pinball game, Cruisin' USA, chairs scattered about, a few tall tables and the ever important Buck Hunter machine. About 2/3rd's of the way back there was a hole cut into the wall. It seemed to be a recent addition as the threshold wasn't finished in any way.

On the other side of the portal everything was different. There were many people crammed into the small area. The lighting was poor at best and an argument seemed to be looming. As I tried to make my way to the bar and order a beer a man slammed into me. The waitress started yelling at everyone to move aside. NESF and an old man had some communication about how the guy was an asshole. I was order when my attacker tried to apologize. He was friendly enough in the end. Wanted to know who won the Gonzaga/WSU game. As I was sorting through all of that I felt a nudge on my other side. It was the old man who looked especially surly and said, "get the fuck outta m'way." Which I promptly did.

We got out beer and retreated back to the game room, desperately trying to make sense of everything that was going on. We started up the Buck Hunter, which was impeded by the placement of the ping pong table. In an attempt to move the table slightly we seemed to have broke it, one of the net posts dislodged from the table causing the net to collapse.

A younger group of people started to show up. It led to a strange mix. The first two of this new crowd seemed to be interested in either the ping pong or the Buck Hunter as they got their drink and took a seat in a spot where they had a very good view of us.

People congregated outside the windows off and on, mostly based on who was smoking at the time. At point I glanced outside to find a man, probably in his mid 40s, standing by the doorway smoking a cigarette. He was dressed in what could accurately be described as rags which gave the impression that he hadn't bathed since Labor Day. The striking thing about this man was his eyes which were fixed on us. It was as if he was studying his prey. Needless to say it was extremely unsettling. Things would have been different if we had The Fastest Knife in the World, but we were without.

More people showed up. This group definitely seemed interested in the ping pong table and was displeased with our presence. I overheard one of them say, "they even broke the ping pong table", which we did but how could he have known? For a moment I thought we were going to have to fight this guy along with the rest of the bar, but he held his tongue, at least while we were there.

Everything about this place seemed to be against us. I felt extremely out of place. NESF more so than I as he pointed out, he was wearing a sweater. The regulars at this place would have lynched us in a moment if it weren't for the established law outside of its walls. Luckily for us they couldn't keep us in there for ever.

We decided that one beer was going to be more than enough time spent there and finished the game quickly. NESF paid cash on the tap and I got my card back. We both breathed a sigh of relief upon exiting on the sidewalk.

We headed down to the Ballard Loft. Nice spot. I hear it's a mad house on the weekend, but it was very pleasant while we were there. They also had a brand new Buck Hunter Open Season machine. I'd yet to play it so it was exciting. Nothing of real consequence happened while we were there, which was a very welcome change given our last experience.

We wrapped it up around 11 and walked back toward NESF's. Just as he was about to turn on his street a bus rolled up that I hopped on for a few blocks up to the 7-11. I went in for some taquitos. "I'm not going to get the taquitos till your card clears. Not to say you're a dead beat but I can't put em back once I pull em out." Strange thing to say I thought. Then wouldn't ya know, my card declined for some reason. I panicked for a slight moment. "See." "Eh, hold on, lemme try this again." I ran the card through and very carefully typed in my pin number. APPROVED. Phew. "Oh I guess you are good."

"I better be. If that thing is declining I've got bigger problems than taquitos. Like my rent."

"See I pay cash for my rent. I guess I forgot to do it the other day. My girlfriend called me all worked up, 'my mom hasn't got your rent yet' I just told her to chill and grab it out of my room. Then get this, they go christmas shopping. All freaked out about the rent and then they go blow it on gifts. Women and shopping, I'll never get it."

He handed me my reheated processed goo wrapped in a tortilla.

"Me either. Talk to ya later man."

"Yeah those girls are always..."

He was still talking as I left.

Back to the Nitty Gritty

Well now that we all know what this is about I'll get back to it...

The Google is reppin' a bar code today. I like it. I think that the increased number of "special" google headers is a good thing. It's still simple, but they're also able to honor different events and people. "A for effort and a B for delivery"...

I really need to do some laundry. I haven't since I moved and I'm almost out of clothes. I'm down to wearing underpants that aren't my favorite. Hopefully I make it through the day without too much unpleasantness. But I assure you the firs thing I'm doing when I get home is laundry, then video games, then more laundry, then I'll probably eat something, then a whole lot more video games, how about a little Simpsons Season 3, then some more laundry, then I'll sleep. This information may seem meaningless now, but later on you'll be glad to have received it...

Cloud Atlas!!! I'm thoroughly enjoying this book. About half way through and it's amazing. I HIGHLY recommend it to all of you. I can't believe that it sat on my bookshelf for 18 months before I gave it a chance...

I had a dream last night that I lived in a tree. There wasn't a treehouse or anything, I just lived in a tree. Birds and squirrels were my friends. I distinctly remember looking over the edge of one of the massive branches and realizing how high up I was. The altitude cause a sort of vertigo and the ground seemed to spin like a hypnotic wheel. I quickly laid on the branch and held on as tightly as I could. That's all I remember...

I think that Roman Polanski deserves to be in jail for the rest of his life. I have no sympathy for chi-mo's regardless of what they have to offer the world...

Fall is here. It's glorious. When I control the weather it will be like this everyday. Unless you're somewhere that's pissing me off. Then I'd send all kinds of nonsense your way. Best to stay in the PNW. It'd take something big for me to negatively effect myself to enact vengeance. Not saying that it won't happen, because it might...

I just realized that I didn't give mad props to the NESF for putting together that killer pic of the watusi-wannabe. But don't despair I intend to atone for my mistakes. Here goes...

Cleanliness, Lucky Rides and a Love of Kennedy

When I get overwhelmed at work I clean my desk. That way everything looks more in order than it really is. Then I blog...

I woke up late today. Led to a very frantic morning. Luckily Archer found me waiting for the bus and hooked it up with a ride. Thank the maker for small miracles...

I think that I am going to try to get my work to use this picture of me for the website...

I am the ex-offender

Strange dream last night. I don't remember much. In the beginning I was at home. The neighbors across the street had switched houses, no explanation why. Fast forward and I was in White Center at an old friends house, but he was no where to be found. There were a lot of people there and I didn't know any of them. I sneaked out to run to the convenience store and ran into an old girl friend. Her hair was long and curly. She was with a group of guys that appeared to have gang affiliations. Her face was withered and appeared as though she hadn't slept in days. It was sad and beautiful at the same time...

They let me out in the summer...

I really need to take some initiative on getting the yard ready for the festival. It's a month away now and I still have to build a table. Last night we also worked up a plan for an outdoor bar of sorts. It should be pretty sweet when its done. I'm also getting close on the Tiki stand. I should stop and buy some wicks tonight...

I think I was in a coma...

BLUR! The NESF reminded me of their greatness last night. Now I can't get enough. If there were ever two songs that described me very well I think that they would be Bugman and Trimm Trabb. Kind of a strange contrast, but I guess I am too...

I didn't know what to do...

Quote of the Day: fucked up is not an excuse to piss in the fish tank...

Poker, 7 and an untitled work

We're getting the band back together. Poker night at Goldies. It's been a long time, but figure since everyone is in town it'd be fitting. I'll probably go out in the first hand. That's just my thing...

I had a great meeting over the weekend about the 7 project. I have the best "editor". Got a lot of good ideas for additions. This is turning into quite the project. I'm actually really excited about. It has a lot of potential to be the best thing to date. Now I just need to keep with this momentum and not let it fall to the back burner, like so many other things. I don't think that should be too much of a problem. I've started dreaming about it...

Here's an excerpt from another project that I'm hoping to pull out the vaults. I guess a quick way to describe it is as a novel about a religious experience. You may have noticed I'm a little obsessed with religion and this work is kind of my tribute to that. I ended up shelving it when I got discouraged over something, I don't even remember what. This is going to be the next big undertaking once I finish 7:

Hayden sat at the top of Caribou Peak looking out over Queen Charlotte Straight. He had been awoken in the night by a dream. His memory of it was hazy but he distinctly remembered seeing Maria Drake and hearing something about her son, Sean. Hayden had long believed that his dreams were a prediction of thing to come, however never before had one been so clouded he didn’t understand the message.
The sun was hours from cresting the mainland and not even the birds sang. A group of elk moved through the woods behind his small cabin, occasionally grunting or rustling the ferns. One of the new calves become lost and wandered out to the spot where Hayden was sitting. The calf was sure to be a recent addition to the herd, as it still bore it’s spots of childhood.
As Hayden reached out to pet the animal and it pulled back. Startled by the sudden action of the calf he stood up cautiously. The young elk then moved to his other side and looked down the steep bluff towards the road. Hayden went to see what it was hinting at when he noticed a man on the side of the road, illuminated only by the moonlight.
The man was wearing a long brown cloak with a hood that hung low over his face. The silence was disturbed when the calf almost lost its footing and sent a cascade of rocks down the hillside. The stranger turned his head slightly to look up to the bluff. His eyes glowed a strange essence over the bluffs. Hayden bore a heavy sense of déjà vu as he stared down on the man. The air became cold and carried a voice before the man hastily turned away and continued walking down the desolate road, “You can’t save him. He’s mine.”

Cover your eyes

I was in a piss poor mood yesterday. Today is a little better for a few reasons...

I started a Facebook fan page for Urban Phantom. I love this bear. However I would like to know if the sighting on Beacon Hill was for real. I'm really hoping to get home and find him in my back yard chillin' next to the brewery...

I bought groceries last night (thanks dad). I remembered the milk but forgot honey...

Lately I've had the inclination to use my blog as a place to vent a lot of frustration. For the most part I've been extremely reserved. But there are many things that have angered me recently...

I am a very lucky person to have access to the NESF. When everything in my life seems like a chaotic mess it always seems to ground me and put things back into perspective. Without it I think that my life would have crashed and burned long ago...

I love America. Sometimes I wonder if she loves me back...