11.26.2001
(Evening)

11.20.2001
(Evening)

11.16.2001
(Afternoon)

11.15.2001
(Morning)

When the attacks first happened on the 11th, I was very worried about how Bush was going to handle the situation. I was very impressed at first, then as the conflict started to drag on, I started to worry about how the bombing was going to affect the view of the US in islamic countries. I was worried about aid shipments not being able to get through to refugees in Afghanistan.

But in the last three days, everything has just worked out perfectly. The Taliban is out of Kabul, word is that they're going down in Kandahar (hell, maybe they're out now... I was playing Aliens vs. Predator 2 all night last night), and even those Christian aid workers are free now. Hooray for us. We rule.

11.08.2001
(Evening)

Well that was fun. My old, broken, shitty RCA DVD player has been sitting around for a while, and I was about to throw it away, so I decided to take it apart. I found a blown fuse on it and after some encouragement from my roommate, figured what the hell... We went down to Radio Shack and got what we assumed was the correct fuse. The old fuse wasn't in any sort of a connection that allowed it to be removed without snipping wires, but snip them we did, and we soldered the new fuse into place.

Now normally I'm rather nervous around electricity, but I truly expected the DVD player to come on when I plugged it in, so I didn't even hesitate when I went to insert the plug. As soon as the plug hit the contacts on the wall plate, a horrible buzzing/burning noise came from one of the boards on the player, and I jumped, pulling the plug away from the contacts. When we looked at the player, a resistor on one of the boards had made a nice black mark across one of the circuit boards.

So I guess I can declare that player officially dead. I wish I had a digital camera so I could take a picture of that board. It really is nice to look at. But it's time to play racquetball now.

11.07.2001
(Morning)

I almost forgot to mention that I saw my first print edition of The Onion this weekend. It was the Chicago local edition, and the "Picks" section chose the Steve Kimock Band shows as one of the shows to see this weekend. They had this review:

Although not household name himself, guitarist Steve Kimock has played with and impressed dozens of big names, most notably Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. Early last year, he formed the Steve Kimock Band, which gathers equally accomplished sidemen like drummer Rodney Holmes and guitarist Mitch Stein. The group's mixture of improvised jazz and slightly psychedelic rock (heard on its first CD, "Live From The West Coast") should appeal to Deadheads and regular folk alike.

Cool. I've certainly seen the Steve Kimock Band before early this year, but I guess that's about the time frame for the forming of this latest incarnation of the band after bassist Bobby Vega abruptly left before a gig. But I do like the current lineup. Hammond, the bassist certainly doesn't solo much, if at all. But I like how Mitch has kind of folded into the band. The early tour this spring I thought that Mitch was playing a bit to aggressively in places that it didn't belong, but he and Steve are playing off of each other quite well now.

Damn I need a copy of those shows...

11.06.2001
(Late)

OK, I couldn't go to bed without writing at least a bit more. And it is technically after midnight, so these words go on the 7th. (I never roll over the date on the web page until either I've gone to bed and woken up, or the sun comes up. So even though it's technically the 7th now, this update reads 11.06.2001 Late. I bet you didn't know that. Well, now you do.)

Ahem. As far as the novel goes, I'm now up to where I should have been on the first. But I still have a lot of catching up to do.

The original idea I had for the book doesn't seem to be working out, but I actually find that it may (possibly) be going somewhere new. We'll see. I have at least three characters that I actually like, and have ideas for at least two more that I haven't introduced just yet. I think I'm going to kill the rest.

I love this god-like power over life and death that I have as a novelist. I think that at some point in the novel I'm going to have all my ex-girlfriends show up, just so I can make them do stupid things that they would never do in real life. Now the only question is whether to use their real names. I guess it couldn't hurt since more than likely nobody is ever going to read this...

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

11.06.2001
(Evening)

11.06.2001
(Evening)

Well it was a damn good weekend.

My flight got in to Chicago at around 7:30. We drove back to my parents' house, I got changed quickly and headed into Chicago for the first night of the Kimock show. I was surprised at how quickly I found the place, but I still missed the first couple of songs. No big deal. Friday nights show was pretty damn good, but they closed at 1:00. I went home and got some sleep.

Saturday was a beautiful day. It's the beginning of November in Chicago, yet I'm warm in a t-shirt. We wandered around downtown for a while, got an idea of how damn expensive housing is down there, and had a good lunch of ribs. We went over and saw The Man Who Wasn't There. I liked it, but want to see it again. I was expecting a bit more suspense in the movie, but it was interesting. Just about this guy whose life gets all screwed up. I think I will go see it when it starts here in KC.

After the movie, we headed back to my parents' place in Bartlett. After relaxing for an hour or so, I headed out to Saturday night's show.

I got there earlier this time, and they were giving out the will call tickets in the restaurant attached to the club. I noticed that the Arkansas vs. Ole' Miss game was on, with four minutes to go in the fourth quarter. So I figure I'll sit down and have a beer and watch the end of the game. Well, it was about 8:50 then, and Kimock was supposed to start at 9:00. Mississippi scores a touchdown to tie the game, and stops Arkansas' drive. The game goes into overtime.

Now the way college overtimes work is that one team gets the ball on their opponents 25 year line. There is no game clock, just a play clock. You get a series of downs to score, then your opponent gets a chance to match or beat what you did. Arkansas scores a touchdown, and nails the extra point. Mississippi answers back. Mississippi scores a touchdown. Arkansas answers back. Now, going into the third overtime, teams have to go for two after a touchdown. Arkansas scores and puts in the two point conversion. Mississippi does the same. In the fourth overtime, Arkansas manages to stuff Mississippi, and I believe they blocked the attempted field goal. Arkansas gets stopped, and miss their field goal, so we're going into a fifth overtime.

At this point, I'm starting to wonder if I'm missing the show... Just as the sixth overtime starts, I hear the opening notes of It's Up To You, easily my favorite song that they do. Arkansas scores their touchdown, and hits the two point conversion. Steve breaks out of the opening into a sweet guitar jam. Mississippi scores a touchdown and lines up for the two point conversion. Jermaine Petty stops Mississippi tight end Doug Ziegler two yards shy of the end zone. I loose a joyous cry, leave a message on the answering machine of a friend from college, and head in to the show and hear Steve wind the song back down.

What follows is the absolute best Steve Kimock Band show I've ever seen. They played all my favorites, and I absolutely need to find a copy that show. After the show, I take a shower and get to sleep.

Two hours later, I'm woken up by my parents. I drink a quick cup of coffee and we hit the road for Green Bay, Wisconsin. Three hours later, we're in town, parked, grilling Bratwurst and drinking a beer. We head into the stadium and I spend the next three hours watching a hell of a game, then I'm trying to sleep all the way back to Chicago, and in bed as soon as we get back.

We spent the afternoon Monday catching a Van Gogh/Gaugin exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Very cool. But then I was on a plane heading back to Kansas City.

Then I wen to work today.

But look at all these words I'm wasting... I should be writing my novel. I'm way behind.

11.01.2001
(Morning)