Cubicle Hell, originally uploaded by kbpease.

This is the row of veal fattening pens I call home during the day. Mine is
the one farthest away from the camera, on the left, way down at the end of
the hall. Also, this means I'm farthest from sunlight and a view. Lucky
lucky me

Date:	2004-06-27 16:34
Subject:	"Life is short son, better have some fun, crack a cold one, snap a fat one in the mid day sun..."
Security:	Public
Mood:	rejuvenated
Music:	Sprung Monkey - So Cal Loco (Party Like A Rock Star)

This weekend has been slightly memorable, I guess. Friday night, left work, headed right to the gym for a workout, and then out with Kenny & Matt to Boston Billiards in Worcester for an evening of pool and some beer. (That's "Bahstin Billiahds in Wistah" and "beeahs" for you non-locals.)

Unfortunately, I was convinced to have a few shots on top of my beer, which turns out to have been a miserably bad idea. I was doing fine, just drinking a few Bass, and then a couple of shots of Tequila and a shot of Blue Hawaii (I think that was the name the waitress gave it?) later... not a pretty sight. The shots, mixed with Chipotle Chicken Poppers and some sort of buffalo mozzerella sticks (spicy buffalo, not mozzerella from a buffalo... ) just did not sit well, and I ended up sick. Nasty, nasty, miserable feeling. I should KNOW this by now, but I guess after a few beers, my judgement truly was impaired.

But, the evening was a great deal of fun, all the same. Spent some time talking to (and talking shit at) the older drunks from Allmerica at the next table, who knew Kenny's cousin, and apparently I work at Fidelity with the brother of one of the women, though I've never met him, and one of the guys there used to work for Data General a few years back when I was there too. Also, it turns out that one of our waitresses, Janet, had one of my dad's friends as a teacher a few years back for high school chem... small world, I guess. So, overall a fun and social night... but I've got to remember to NOT mix shots with beer. And it was a HUGE mistake to make the last shot the Blue Hawaii one, because that was just full of fruit juice and sugar... ugh.

Spent most of yesterday sleeping and relaxing, which was an even better idea -- I feel so rested and relaxed today, it's great. I literally probably slept about 18 hours yesterday... it's been a lot of late nights and early mornings at work the past few weeks, and the long commute is going to nearly kill me before we move to Smithfield in August. So getting stupid and having some extra sleep time was definitely a good thing.

And today, I'm just doing work & laundry... went to the gym earlier, had a good, intense, hour-long workout, and now I'm trying to get some builds & stuff done.

Tomorrow should be interesting... interviewing in the morning for a Senior Release Engineer position with a company in Wayland, Softscape, which looks like it might actually be a pretty good company. Also been getting a lot of calls from recruiters in New Jersey, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Mass... mostly contracting jobs. Softscape is a full time position, which might not really fit with where I want to go, but the contracting gigs I've been getting called for would almost all require relocating, which is also something I'm not particularly keen on doing right now. Which reminds me, I do have to call back a guy from Detroit... not really keen on the idea of going to Detroit to work (only heard negatives about Detroit), but if the money's good, I can find someplace nice to live for a while, I suppose. We'll see.

And that's about it, I guess...

The results of last night's hockey game:



The big scrape on my nose comes from some guy's shoulder. He tried to run by me, and as he did, he dropped his shoulder right into my nose. This caused a strange, somewhat frightening crunching noise, and afterwards, Matt was telling me my nose looked crooked. It doesn't hurt, but I guess he might have knocked my nose out of joint somehow.

To add insult to injury, I caught a slapshot in the side of the head. In the last photo above, you can kind of see the results... the side of my head behind my left eye is all swollen and red, it's going to be a hell of a nice bruise in a couple days. Yay, me. At least I didn't have my eye knocked out, I guess that's something to be thankful for. Sometime in the next week, I need to get me a helmet with a face cage.

It's been a while. I will try to update with my usual wit and brevity, which is to say that this will likely be neither very short, nor very funny. Sucks to be you.

Sitting in South Station waiting for them to call my train... surrounded by a steady stream of strange, weird, entertaining people.

Last night, played hockey for an hour and a half, straight... no subs. We played our game, and just as we were about to leave, a couple guys from the team playing after us asked if we [Kenny, Matt, me] felt like playing again. Naturally, being the stupid fools we are, we agreed. And in about 2 hours, I get to play again... hopefully we'll have some subs tonight. It was a good time, though... we won both games -- I like to think it was my contribution that put us over the top. After hockey, it was on to Uno's, where we re-hydrated, and talked a lot of shit to the waitress & bartender... always fun.

While we were sitting there last night, Kenny, Matt, and I all started talking about the need to do something new, something different... it's fun, and cool hanging out with the people we hang out with now, but we do it too much. So, the topic of conversation turned to new stuff... ideas thrown around included white water rafting (Matt's been, says it's a great time, and Kenny & I both think it sounds like a lot of fun), renting a house over the water near some jaguar preserve in Belize (okay, probably a little too expensive at this point, but still), taking a road trip to Toronto (very likely sometime this fall), and finally, I seized upon the idea of giving my piece-of-shit car a proper send-off when the time comes for me to replace it. I want to just drive it somewhere, until it breaks down or I reach my destination, and then just sell it. Get one last hard use out of it, then be done with it.

I spent a little while poking around, looking at road trips and things like that online, and stumbled across one in particular that would be awesome, if it didn't kill me first. Kenny's volunteered to be my co-pilot, and I bet we could convince Matt to roll with us as well. Here's the ingredients: 3 otherwise sane adult men... a 1996 Geo Metro Hatchback... the Alaska Highway... to the Arctic Circle. I mean, so what if it's 5000 miles ONE WAY, and would take us a week of almost non-stop driving to get there? Off hand, here's about how it would look:

Leave Millbury, driving West. Drive west for 4 or 5 days, until we hit Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Occasional pit stops along the way, probably in Toronto, (and Moose Jaw, Canada, just so we can say we've been). At Dawson Creek, we'd say hi to Pacey & Skipper (or whatever the fuck those kids' names are on that show), and turn north up the Alaska Highway, through British Columbia, the Yukon Territory, and into Alaska, all the way to Fairbanks. In Fairbanks, if the Geo has survived the trip, give it a proper send off at the nearest junkyard... rent an S.U.V. in Fairbanks, and drive north up the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse, Alaska... 7 miles from the Arctic Ocean, and quite a few miles inside the arctic circle. Check out the arctic ocean, maybe see the ANWR & Prudhoe Bay oil fields, and then hop a flight back from Fairbanks to Boston. Total mileage driving would be somewhere around 5000 miles... driving 12 hours a day, it could be done in approximately 10 days. Traveling light (as the Geo would demand), we could probably do it pretty cheap, too... and, if the Geo craps out halfway there, we stop in the nearest large city for a few days and then fly home. Thoughts? Comments? I think it's a hell of an idea. High adventure in the great outdoors, or some such shit, with stops to tear it up in a city or two along the way... three idiots from Boston, driving from Boston to Alaska in a Geo Metro would probably make for a damn good story to tell someday. And how many people can claim they've driven from Boston to Alaska? That, my friends, is bragging rights:

"We took this road trip down to Washington D.C.... it was crazy, kid, we drove so far."
"Yeah? We just got back from a road trip to the beach! Of course... the beach was in Alaska, on the Arctic Ocean. So fuck you."

If I could take a month or two off, I'd say I'd drive as much of the perimeter of North America as the car would take... but then I started thinking about being stuck in the middle of the Mexican desert in a broken down metro... and I came to realize that that would be a great way to end up dead, or sold into some sort of freaky international sex slave scheme. Canadians, however, are warm and gentle -- and if I break down in the yukon territory, i just have to worry about being eaten by a grizzly.

Look for more details on this road trip in the coming months. I'm thinking sometime next spring would be an abso-fucking-lutely stupendous idea.

Date:	2004-03-04 11:27
Subject:	"There isn't that much ocean between Boston and St. John's..."
Security:	Public
Mood:	cheerful
Music:	Great Big Sea - Boston And St. John's

I'm constantly amazed by how thoroughly the smallest conversation with the right person can completely knock my sense of perspective back into proper scale.

Sometimes I lose sight of my blessings when I'm disappointed, and that's not fair to anybody. So a big thank you to a wonderful friend.

Date:	2004-03-04 08:24
Subject:	"Sweet amnesia, come and set me free, I just need to get you out of me..."
Security:	Public
Mood:	bitchy
Music:	Randy Travis - Out Of My Bones

[editor's note: don't mind this idiot's complaining, dear readers. He's just whining like a little bitch, and will be just fine after venting a bit.]

Good thing I got a lot of sleep yesterday, because I hardly got any sleep last night...

It seems that even now, during the process of my divorce, there's "things of mine" that aren't... and can't be, at least for now... my own. And that's very frustrating to me. I suppose I should be philosophical about things, and say, "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger," but right now, I'm feeling more like a 2 year old pitching a tantrum... and with all due respect to Mr. Nietzsche, his little bon mots strike me as one big crock of shit.

And, more fun fun fun... that frustration has definitely bled over into my driving this morning, too... today is going to be a very misanthropic [definition 2] day, I fear. The people on the roads were all idiots and morons, completely incapable of driving, and don't even get me started on the guy who was waddling himself up the sidewalk in front of me this morning, blowing cigarette smoke back into my face for about a quarter of a mile... I had an umbrella in my hand, and was starting to think how much fun it would be to just club this guy like a baby seal to get him out of my way, and get out of his little plume of smoke.

Oh yeah baby... it's 8 a.m., and all's well . . .

"They're a finesse team, bro!"
"They're a fuckin' bitch team -- score!"

Date:	2004-03-01 16:26
Subject:	Sometimes, I wish I was this cool...
Security:	Public
Mood:	sleepy
Music:	Dog's Eye View - Would You Be Willing

Would you be willing
to take me for my word
if i told you i was falling
if i told you things
I'm sure you'd heard

would you stand up and walk away
or stay here tonight
would you laugh at what i say

I'm singing you this love song
someone probably sang for someone else
and there's nothing new about it
except maybe that I've never felt this way

please don't stand up and walk away
stay here tonight
would you laugh at what I say
here tonight, here tonight

It's hard for me to say things
without joking 'round, and around and around
and it's hard for me to look at you
without feeling like
I've been drowned and saved again

please don't stand up and walk away
let me stay here tonight
please don't laugh at what I say

Would you be willing?
Would you be willing....

Date:	2004-02-28 18:35
Subject:	"I put this battle in a box, with my military thoughts, and the days where I'm almost at my end..."
Security:	Public
Mood:	contemplative
Music:	Sarah Slean - Last Year's War (Live)

So, today as I was packing, I put in Dido's new CD, "Life For Rent", and was actually listening to some of the songs, and one of the lines from the third song & title track, "Life For Rent", really stuck with me... especially in light of my last post, in which I mentioned that 90% of the stuff I'm packing is simply music, movies, and books. So, I thought I'd share it, dear reader, and savour it just a little more.

[ . . . ]
I've always thought that I would love to live by the sea
To travel the world alone and live more simply
I have no idea what's happened to that dream
Cos there's really nothing left here to stop me
It's just a thought, only a thought
[ . . . ]

Go without a coat when it's cold; find out what cold
is. Go hungry; keep your existence lean. Wear
away the fat, get down to the lean tissue and see
what it's all about. The only time you define your
character is when you go without. In times of
hardship, you find out what you're made of, and what
you're capable of. If you're never tested, you'll never
define your character.

Date:	2004-02-28 14:04
Subject:	"If I could have just one piece of that I'd be sold...."
Security:	Public
Mood:	accomplished
Music:	Sarah Slean - Sweet Ones

Move status: 1.5 rooms packed. Today, I finished up one bedroom, and started on the second. The main bedroom is boxed up, de-curtain-rodded, vacuumed, and ready for inspection by the rental folks... second bedroom still needs a bit of work, but it's getting there... have to dig into all my CDs & DVDs, and get them packed into boxes. What a nightmare that promises to be...

At the prompting of my ex, when we first moved in, I put all my CDs into those little binders that hold like 150 CDs, and are the size of a big 3-ring binder. This was done with an eye towards saving space in the apartment, and I discarded all the empty jewel cases... but now, I've got NINE binders like that (each holding 150 - 200 CDs), plus a whole slew of other, still-jewel-cased CDs... and I'm terrifically annoyed by the fact that the binders are not an easy system to keep things organized with. Yes, I'm one of those anal-retentives who likes to keep his CD and books in some semblance of alphabetical order by performer / writer / band name.


"Hi, my name's Kevin, and I'm anal retentive about organizing my CD collection."
"Hi Kevin."

I think I may just leave that for last. Books got packed away quickly, and DVDs promise to go quickly, too. The CDs are just going to be a complete pain in the ass, though. There's no good way to do it, I guess... need to just dig in.

In other move news, looks like I'll be moving back to Millbury in about 3 weeks... I'm all paid out with the rental office here, I've got my storage unit ready to hold the crap I won't need while I'm there for a few months, and I'm making good progress on getting things packed up. It's amazing how small my pile of stuff really is, though. 90% of the stuff that I'm taking with me is the aforementioned books, DVDs, and movies.

Date:	2004-02-26 18:30
Subject:	"I know it's been quite a long time since I sang a hymn without guilt in my eyes..."
Security:	Public
Mood:	pensive
Music:	Sarah Slean - John XXIII

Just a bit of rambling on my part, I guess... thinking about my current situation, where I've been, where I'm going, where I am now... I guess I'm just thinking too much about these things. But this thought, in particular, really stuck.

A comment I made in jest last night -- about me, playing hard-to-get -- got me to thinking about the whole notion of attraction in general. And that free-associated with a line from Atlas Shrugged, in which one of the characters describes the "rules of attraction" in a rather interesting way. To whit:

     [ . . . ] he will always be attracted to the woman who
     reflects his deepest vision of himself, the woman
     whose surrender permits him to experience -- or to
     fake -- a sense of self-esteem.  The man who is
     proudly certain of his own value, will want the highest
     type of woman he can find, the woman he admires,
     the strongest, the hardest to conquer -- because only
     the possession of a heroine will give him a sense of
     achievement, not the possession of a brainless
     slut... he does not seek to gain his value, he seeks
     to express it.  There is no conflict between the
     standards of his mind and the desires of his
     body. [ . . . ]
          -- Francisco D'Anconia, in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

Date:	2004-02-23 09:03
Subject:	32 flavors, and then some...
Security:	Public
Mood:	awake
Music:	Notorious B.I.G. - Big Poppa

This morning, the cafeteria here at work had a coffee flavor so bizarre that I had to try it -- Blueberry Cobbler Coffee. Whoever thinks of these combinations is clearly either a complete lunatic, or a genius of such unmitigated audacity that it's unbelievable.

The verdict: It's not bad. A little weird, though... like somebody took the filling from one of those blueberry snack pies, and pureed it into a pot of strong Colombian coffee. Wouldn't get it again... but I now have something I can put on my grave stone.

"Here lies Kevin. Tried Blueberry Cobbler Coffee, and kinda liked it."

Now that, friends and neighbors, is a sweet headstone.

And, in other news, I've been really, really bad about my diet lately. I suppose I have some explanation, in that the past few weeks have been a bit of a kick in the nuts, figuratively speaking... but still. No excuse. No excuse. Back to the strict 1200 calories (net) per day thing, starting this morning. Time to fire up the old diet journal, too, so I can give myself a sound thrashing if I completely blow it.

Street Hockey tonight... 7:30... my ribs still hurt from last week, and my foot hurts also... good times, good times. Why is it that the Monday night "gym class hero" league leaves me more achey than the Tuesday night "people who have some idea how to play" league? I guess it's because the hacks have never played before, but have certainly watched an NHL game or two...

I'm trying to be nice to these kids and not hit them, and they're crashing into me at full speed like maniacs... if someone tries it tonight, I may have to take him to school -- "Step up, step up and catch a bad one / Punks jump up to get beat down!"

I wish I were half as tough as my quotes. :)

Date:	2004-02-20 17:42
Subject:	Well it's hard for me to say things, without joking 'round and around and around...
Security:	Public
Mood:	contemplative
Music:	Dog's Eye View - Would You Be Willing

This interview brought to me & you by Sarah (sh2447)... Tim Russert, look out.

THE RULES

1. Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.


2. I will respond; I'll ask you five questions.


3. You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.


4. You'll include this explanation.


5. You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed

• First, in honor of my Aerobed: Tory Cassis, "It Never Hurts To Ask"
  
  ( Lyrics for It Never Hurts To Ask )
  


• Second, just because it fits you: Jason Mraz, "Not So Usual"
  
  ( Lyrics for Not So Usual -- kinda long )
  

Well, I promised this list to Sarah, and I figured it might be of interest to the general population, so it's getting posted here. Deal. Sarah, I know some of these have already been mentioned, but for anybody else who's interested, I'm including them again.

• Ryan Adams -- Official Site -- sort of country-flavored rock and pop. Not to be confused with Mr. Bryan "Summer of '69" Adams.


• Bad Religion -- Official Site -- melodic punk music with big words... oooh, so literate. Actually the only place I've ever seen the word moiety used outside of a Chemistry textbook.


• Ben Folds -- Ben Folds Official Site -- Ben Folds Five Official Site -- great piano-oriented pop music, with a sense of humour.


• Berkley Hart -- Official Site -- From their web site, describing their style: "Think The Band meets Woody Guthrie meets The Who." Folky rock with an occasional country flavor.


• Kevin Briody -- Official Site -- Nicely written folk songs. Originally heard him on one of the Boston college stations, and was stunned by his live versions of his songs "Walnuts and Rice" and "The Parade".


• Tory Cassis -- Official Site -- Singer / songwriter from Toronto. Awesome songs... "moody" well written songs -- a little bit rock, blues, pop, and folk.


• Richard Cheese -- Official Site -- Vegas Lounge versions of all of your favorite top-40 hits. VERY funny shit... I especially like his rendition of Mystikal's "Shake Ya Ass," and Rage Against The Machine's "Guerilla Radio".


• Cicero -- Also from the Toronto area, but unfortunately, can't seem to find the web site anymore... great CD, "Out Of Nowhere". Highly recommended if you can find a place to hear it.


• Howie Day -- Official Site -- Not exactly a "never heard of" for a lot of people now... but still worth checking out if you haven't heard him yet.


• Dog's Eye View -- Another one which I can't find a site for, apparently they're no longer putting out music as Dog's Eye View. Peter Stuart, the singer, appears to still be doing stuff, but I haven't heard any of it, and so can neither recommend it nor recommend avoiding it. However, Dog's Eye View's CD, Happy Nowhere, is great. Well worth checking out.


• John Eddie -- Official Site -- I can only recommend (because I've so far only heard) the one song of his that I've heard a few times on one of the radio stations around here. "If You're Here When I Get Back" -- a great song to miss someone to, and a great traveling song.


• Fisher -- Official Site -- Don't remember how I stumbled on to this one, but I remember it was somewhere on MP3.com. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but some of the songs are really good... mostly mellow-to-downright-sleepy songs, but show occasional flashes of rocking-out.


• Great Big Sea -- Official Site -- A band from Newfoundland, Canada... very strong Irish / Celtic influence mixed in with pop and rock. Some really great songs, some great lyrics, and some interesting updates of traditional songs, as well. Particularly love the songs, "Boston & St. John's", and "The Old Black Rum".


• Patty Griffin -- Official Site -- One of the few singers I've ever heard who I've come to think can do absolutely nothing poorly. Her first album, "Living With Ghosts," was heart-rendingly beautiful from start to finish -- a collection of amazing, simple songs... beautiful tunes, simple arrangements, and just-incredible lyrics. Her second album, "Flaming Red" introduced a band to the mix, and she proved that she can rock out -- see "Wiggley Fingers" and "Tony" -- and still write great songs. Then, her third (and most recent) CD, "1000 Kisses" is another startling collection with even a bit more variety... including a cover of a song, Mil Besos, written by a Mexican (I think) songwriter, Emma Elena Valdelamar, which is a great song, and a striking departure from a lot of her previous songs. I can't say enough good things about Ms. Griffin -- highly, strongly, most urgently recommended if you enjoy well-written songs that will break your heart, and make you enjoy every second of that breaking. All three of her CDs have consistently remained high up on my list of favorites since I bought them.


• Guster -- Official Site -- Great pop & rock songs... just released a new album that I haven't heard much off of yet, but their last album before that, "Lost & Gone Forever" is great, and some of their earlier stuff is also quite good.


• Sarah Harmer -- Official Site -- Former singer for the band Weeping Tile, also from the Toronto area... I'm proud to say that just before she released her first post-Weeping Tile album, she played a Living Room concert at my house. Aren't you jealous? Yes. Yes you are. Her CD "You Were Here" is great... highly recommended. And, if you like old popular hits from the 30's, 40's, and 50's, you might also like her CD, "Songs For Clem" (available through her web site), which includes old country, folk, gospel, and pop songs that she recorded for her father, if I recall the story correctly.


• Jack Johnson -- Official Site -- Okay, if you haven't heard of him by now, go listen. Now. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.


• Norah Jones -- Official Site -- If by some freak chance you have not heard her yet... crawl out from under your rock, and go listen. Tool.


• Josh Kelley -- Official Site -- You've probably also heard him, or heard of him. If not, check him out... he's good.


• Stephen Kellogg -- Official Site -- great singer / songwriter... started out playing around here in Massachusetts, not sure where he's at these days... his song, "Such A Way" really grabbed my attention... any song which starts, "Well the girls in California, they all look the same to me / the way they take for granted living by the sea" is a winner in my book. Also, his song, "Chasm & Cross". Check him out, I don't think you'll be disappointed.


• Cletus Kennelly -- Official Site -- I think this was another MP3.com discovery, somehow. Really good folk songs... very simple arrangements


• Chris Knight -- Official Site -- Officially, country music, so consider yourself warned if you hate country... but he has two songs that I absolutely love: "Love and a .45", and "It Ain't Easy Being Me". Check them out, if country songs won't send you screaming off into the night.


• Nil Lara -- UN-Official (but comprehensive) Site -- I love this guy's music. He's a singer/songwriter from Miami, and combines traditional rock & pop songs with Cuban (and other Latin) influences to create some really great music. His self-titled CD, released a few years ago, is absolutely wonderful, I'm just sorry to see that he doesn't seem to tour much outside of Miami.


• Raul Malo -- Can't find any web site for him. He's the singer for a country (I think?) band, The Mavericks... his solo CD, "Today", contains some great rock songs mixed with Latin instrumentation, rhythms, and phrasing. Especially recommend, "Every Little Thing About You" and "Let's Not Say Goodbye Anymore".


• Mazzy Star -- Official Site -- Beautiful, soft, mellow songs. Makes me want to go back to bed and stay there all day.


• Jason Mraz -- Official Site -- Unofficial Site -- I don't think that you could possibly have escaped his song, "The Remedy" on the radio since sometime last summer... but if you haven't heard any of his other stuff, check him out. He's amazing live, and has some phenomenal songs. I'm actually not as keen on his recently-released CD ("Waiting For My Rocket To Come") as I am on some of the live and/or unreleased stuff I've heard him do.


• Heather Nova -- Official Site -- If you haven't heard of her, do yourself a favor and go buy one of her CDs immediately. Strongly recommend Oyster, Siren, or Wonderlust (a recorded-live CD she release a couple years ago).


• O.A.R. (Of A Revolution) -- Official Site -- Somewhat reminiscent of Dave Matthews or Phish, I think... really good live, and some really good songs... check them out. I think their song, "Hey Girl" is getting some radio play these days, so you might have heard it already.


• Steve Poltz -- Official Site -- Was (maybe still is, if they're still together?) lead singer for The Rugburns; Released a CD, "One Left Shoe" a few years back that is REALLY good. Folk-rock-pop-ish, smart, funny songs... some really good ones. Also, for music trivia fans, he co-wrote Jewel's song "You Were Meant For Me".


• The Refreshments -- Official Site -- Unfortunately, this band has split up. Originally from somewhere in Arizona, they released two CDs, "Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big & Buzzy" and "The Bottle and Fresh Horses" -- both absolutely full of great rock songs. Nothing earth-shatteringly great, but solidly enjoyable songs. Comfort Music -- The musical equivalent of macaroni and cheese. A few of the orignial members are now performing in a band called The Peacemakers, but I haven't heard any of their music so cannot recommend them -- I merely point them out.


• Henry Rollins -- Official Site -- Not for his music, but for his spoken word. Funny, insightful, thought-provoking at times. Well worth checking out, if you enjoy listening to engaging stories that will make you laugh.


• Richard Shindell -- Official Site -- Reminds me a little bit of James Taylor, at least vocally. His CDs are consistently near the top of my "favorites" list, as well. From his web site: "Shindell’s songwriting is truly eclectic, ranging from lighthearted ballads and adulterous love songs, to dirges and diatribes that skillfully skewer politics, prejudice, war and religion. He has a unique ability to morph into the soul of the many and varied personalities he casts as narrators in certain songs--songs that are veritable novellas framed in haunting acoustic melodies, sometimes including cryptic, revelations through the eyes of a woman."


• Sarah Slean -- Official Site -- Another one of my personal favorites... really liked almost all of her first two albums, "Universe" and "Blue Parade". Her two more recent ones (an EP from 2001, and "Night Bugs" released in 2002) don't do as much for me, but there are still some great songs on those two. I'm proud to say that she's played at my house twice, too... once solo, and once with Sarah Harmer. She's really great live, and her music is really good... recommended if you like Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan. Not exactly "the same as," but in a similar vein.


• Tom Waits -- Official Site -- Amazing songwriter, with some really great songs... although his more recent singing voice sounds like he's smoking about 10 packs a day, drinking a couple bottles of whiskey, and then washing it all down with a heaping bowl of gravel. If you've heard the song "Ol' 55" (Sarah McLachlan covered the song on Fumbling Towards Ecstasy), he's the one who wrote that. Definitely recommend that you check him out.


• Beth Waters -- Official Site -- Another MP3.com discovery... some very pretty, piano-based music.


• Dar Williams -- Official Site -- Yet another folkie... haven't heard much of her newer stuff, but her first few CDs have some really great songs on them. I'd expect that her newer stuff is fairly similar.

Date:	2004-02-16 23:27
Subject:	Removing a few friends from my list...
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired
Music:	Patty Griffin - Forgiveness

I'm cleaning out my friends list, so some of you may notice that you've been removed. Please don't take it personally -- things are just pretty crazy for me these days, and I haven't been keeping up with reading your journals, or really doing much of anything here...

So -- "It's not you, it's me."

Date:	2004-02-11 14:12
Subject:	Rollins... Spoken Word... tonight.
Security:	Public
Mood:	cheerful
Music:	Ryan Adams - When The Stars Go Blue

So, Andy and I are going to see Henry Rollins do a spoken word show at the Webster Theater in Hartford tonight, at 7:30. If you've never had the chance to see him do his spoken word stuff, you should. Well worth the time and trip.

¡Es igualmente bueno para la gente flaca y gorda!

2.13.61 Web Site, Henry's publishing company.

I've never been a huge fan of his music... but his spoken word stuff is great -- funny, incisive, occasionally thought-provoking... check it out.

I rediscovered hotornot.com the other day, and thought it would be funny to post my picture again... the results are terrifying -- after 40 votes, if I'm hotter than 82% of the men on that site (as the rating tells me), then there's a lot of ugly bastards up there...

( My Hot Or Not rating )

Date:	2004-01-16 22:03
Subject:	Check this mofo out...
Security:	Public
Mood:	accomplished
Music:	Counting Crows - A Long December

Well, I bought a web cam today, and I snapped a picture of myself. It was an eye-opening experience, in a good way. I haven't really noticed much of a change in how I look as I lose weight, but check this out...

( check me out )

I haven't been so good the past couple weeks with getting to the gym -- christmas, new year's, being sick, having a horrid reaction to epinephrine and novocaine at the dentist's office while getting a filling... but, this definitely gives some encouragement to get back into the gym again tomorrow.

Date:	2004-01-06 09:02
Subject:	Let's all struggle to get better-paying jobs...
Security:	Public
Mood:	cranky
Music:	Tom Waits - Big In Japan

... and end up poorer than we were to start with?

I was absolutely stunned by an article I read this morning, in which, Wes Clark proposes that those who are most likely to need government services should not have to pay a cent for them.

I like that thinking -- I drive on I-90 (the Mass Turnpike, a toll road in Massachusetts) a lot, but I hate paying the tolls. Perhaps Wes Clark could propose a plan where somebody else could foot the bill for my tolls, as well. And frankly, paying for my rent and groceries is getting old, too.

     The basic principle of altruism is that man has no right
     to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the
     only justification of his existence, and that self-sacrifice
     is his highest moral duty, virtue, and value.

     Do not confuse altruism with kindness, good will, or
     respect for the rights of others.  These are not primaries,
     but consequences, which, in fact, altruism makes
     impossible.  The irreducible primary of altruism, the basic
     absolute, is self-sacrifice - which means:  self-immolation,
     self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction - which
     means:  the self as a standard of evil, the selfless as a
     standard of the good.

     Poverty is not a mortgage on the labor of others -
     misfortune is not a mortgage on achievement - failure
     is not a mortgage on success - suffering is not a
     claim check, and its relief is not the goal of
     existence - man is not a sacrificial animal on anyone's
     altar, nor for anyone's cause - life is not one huge
     hospital.

Date:	2003-12-30 15:07
Subject:	Wing . . . can . . . . . . . . . sing???
Security:	Public
Mood:	enthralled
Music:	WingMusic.co.nz - (They Long To Be) Close To You

Wing Music

I can't stop listening. I highly recommend her version of Mariah Carey's "Vision Of Love", and The Carpenter's "(They Long To Be) Close To You"...

Go now and listen.

Date:	2003-11-17 11:32
Subject:	"Dependin on the day, and dependin on what I ate, I'm anywhere from 20 to 35 pounds overweight..."
Security:	Public
Mood:	cheerful
Music:	Brother Ali - Forest Whitiker

Well, it's been about a month since I last wrote something. And things are going well... really well. I've lost about 18 pounds to date (since early September), weighing in at a still-whopping-but-significantly-smaller 280 pounds on Friday. Hooray for me.

And now, even with this modest loss, I'm starting to notice some differences. This weekend, I had to break out a pair of jeans that I put away 2 years ago because they were getting tight, and they fit pretty comfortably. I'm also using holes in my belt I've never used before, and two of the belts are now too big -- even buckled as tight as they'll go, they're too lose. It's a curious feeling to be able to take off a pair of jeans without removing my belt, or unbuttoning or unzipping the jeans. Good, but curious -- and no, I didn't do it in public. But it's nice to know I could, if I ever got into some sort of emergency mooning situation, where, as we all know, the quickest draw wins.

And, I've noticed some other things, too... I always said I would want to throw myself in front of a bus if I was one of those fat old men who wheezed and puffed up two flights of stairs. I never noticed how much of an effort it even that was becoming, until I started exercising again. I'm still using the elliptical motion trainer at the gym, about 60 minutes every day (with an occasional day off if I really don't feel like it. I'm at the point where, at moderate resistance, and at a moderate incline, the machine is telling me I'm covering about 5 miles in an hour. Now granted, I'm not going to be winning any sort of Indy 500 Time Trials here... but 12 minute miles, sustained, on an incline, for 5 miles -- that's not too shabby, I think. And I've noticed that I can actually RUN up stairs now, which is something else I haven't done in years.

I feel like I'm rediscovering some sort of lost continent or something... and that feels great. All these things I've never noticed when my ability to do them started slipping away, are really remarkable, when I notice that I can do them again.

So... that's where things stand now. Feeling good, losing weight slowly but surely, and half-delighted, half-dismayed at the fact that I'm going to have to go purchase a bunch of new pants. And not in the Fat Man's "Big And Tall Man's" section, if you please.

( Don't read me if you're a bit squeamish )