December 13, 2009

Man, it's been a while. Not sure who is reading this but I'm alive and well. It's been a rough few months with the whole engagement not working out and all but I haven't let it slow me down. Trying to keep up on the guitar, working like a banshee, waiting for Brandy to come back into town in about a week, hosting poker at my new place, getting moved into my new place, seeing friends I haven't seen in a long time and just catching up on things. :) I can't have a dog at my new place but at least it has room for my pool table and all my computer/TV things. Had a housewarming party at the new place that just freaking ROCKED. I hope my neighbors are cool but we'll see in the next few months or so. I don't have time to write anything else because I'm headed to bed early for work tomorrow. I usually don't get to bed until 2 or so but I need to be to work by 6 tomorrow.

Party this Wednesday night at Kelly's and Kris' place, should be fun. I'm trying to remember to bring my pens so I can play "tattoo artist" all night.

I'm also supposed to get some material this week from a friend that's recording some of his guitar riffs. We've talked about a band thing but I don't have a lot of free time with all my other things going on. We'll see what he has and if it's good enough I'll be trying to make some more time for that. Hope everyone is well, I'll write more later!

June 1, 2009

So a lot has happened in the past month and I mean a lot. I'd love to go into a lot of detail but there isn't much time tonight to put everything down. I'll try to do a quick run through for the only person that actually reads my blog. :)

So this girl Jane Doe. Kinda dated but were mostly just friends. Story goes, she ends up in intensive care for something entirely self-inflicted. This girl is completely unconscious for a day but finally pulled through and she tells us she tried to end it all. We're staying only friends now (and, as expected, I'm maintaining a certain distance...) and things have been difficult trying to make any sort of reconnection since. I think the complications arise mostly from the way we communicate or rather the lack thereof. I try to state everything as explicitly and as concise as possible and yet we keep running into a breakdown. She reminds me a lot of COATO and how she used to act so you can imagine how motivated I am in trying to make things work between us. I get more frustrated when she expects to be cosseted and have every text answered immediately. I have WAY too much going on to give her that time and attention but she doesn't seem to be getting the not-so-subtle hints...

Moving on... Family. HOLY WOW. So my brother was adopted and was recently reunited by this one random guy on national TV. It was crazy to have everything happen with Dan but it's been so great. His "old" family is so chill and it was really nice to meet them, especially his birth mom. I'm so happy that everything turned out so wonderful for him. It was a humbling experience to hear his mom say that she chose the family because of me so that Dan would always have an older brother. It's been incredible to see God's hand in all of this because so many things have been happening so perfectly. Providence is really what has made my family what it is today. I really love my family. It's been years since I've really meant that as strongly as I do now.

Doing the whole church thing again. I'm serious this time though, no going back. I really want to change my life to make it more in line with what I feel is right. It's been difficult because of my lifestyle, as most of you already know. And Curtis, I'm still not gay. :) I've been going to church, doing my reading but most importantly I've been praying more and have felt extra strength to make the right decisions hour to hour.

I have long hair. Finally. It can fit in a pony tail now without any real problems! Also, I got a better flat iron because my piece of shit one that I was using before wasn't cutting it. My Pink-Bedazzle Chi on the other hand does. PINK! I love buying pink things! I support the fight against breast cancer, what have you supported lately? And don't say Kanae because even Matt Stone and Trey Parker feel "ill will" for the poor, delusional douchebag. But anyway, it looked really sharp until I got chided at church for having long hair. You know, Jesus had long hair and we're supposed to be more like him.

It looks like closing on the condo has been delayed so I'm having to move back with the parents for a bit... Not more than a week, hopefully. B-town... *sigh* Well, could be worse. The good news is I don't have a roommate anymore! Not that my last roommate was bad but it's nice to finally have a place to myself again. I require a certain level of privacy to maintain my stability.

Went boating recently and got to see a bunch of old friends. It was great seeing Aho and Kendall and everyone else. I got to play captain Ahab on our little boat-scapade which I think was my favorite part. I also finally took Justin out for his birthday dinner. Heather decided to hang around for that one as well even though she had second thoughts. It being Justin he decided to head out to the Bayou and I bought. It's great to finally have that connection with my brother finally. If only you could have seen us when we were younger and living under the same roof... It's amazing what changes can happen in people.

Work moved into the new office. I can call myself a cubicle rat now because I LOVE the new cubie I've been placed in. It sucks being away from all the other IR Analysts but I'm surviving well enough. The funny thing is our office now looks much like Office Space. No lie. I swear, if someone comes up to me and asks if I'm having a "bad case of the Mondays" I'm going to punch them in the jugular and proceed to staple their clothing to the ground. Then I'd be off to beat down our copy machine... F***ing copy machine....

Anyway, that's all I have time to write. Look for an update much sooner!

April 1, 2009

Wow, a lot has happened lately. Things have been so crazy! Obviously since I haven't even had time to blog. :p Let's see... where to begin...

Band. Dan is in it with me. Then there's Chaz who likes to say he's from Finland. He's from Murray, but not the Jew, the city. Although having a Jew Accountant in the band might be more beneficial... Jeremy. Uncle Jeremy. Or Uncle Germ. Not my uncle. Or Chaz's. Or Dan's. ...although, I hear Jeremy might be his own uncle/grandpa. Not sure I want to stop and figure that one out... But he's chill, no worries. Just throw him a bass solo and he's happy.

We don't have a name but we rock. We rock hardcore. But not like, screamo/lame-O hardcore... More like, I like every song we play and our guitarist is the shit. Oh, and I wrote two of the songs. It's been something that's kept me fairly busy. I'm starting to realize what a good thing networking was because now I know a bunch of people in the right places. Expect some shows coming up in the next few months. I love our sound. Classic yet original with a kick-you-in-the-face energy. Did I mention I like my own band? Rarely does that happen where I'd turn on my own music.

Again on the band kick, we've recorded a few songs for our DEMO. Not a cd, a DEMO. Get us out and playing. Yes, we'll STILL take your money in exchange for it. No, you can't be our manager unless you bring me food each practice. And on Wednesdays. You might have to work weekends too come to think of it...

I'm getting myself a puppy. Miniature Pinscher. Yeah, it's a little dog but it's so damn cute. Besides, since the little Chiuaua known as Pilot had entered my life I've developed a love of the little rat dogs... I'm getting a bitch so feel free to send me some name ideas. I was thinking something like Athena because I thought it'd be funny. "Shrewd companion of heros" and since she would be spayed she'd also live up to being the "virgin parton" of Athens. Which is going to have to be the name of my condo. :p Or maybe Persephone... I was also thinking Dizzy (that has a personal reference you probably won't get...) or Sophia. What do you think?

Moving into a condo. Done with roommates. Going to have 2 bedrooms all to myself! Happy goodness if you ask me! Need to get my house plant back... I hope Justin hasn't been watering it with beer... Work is going great! Love my job. I'm in investor reporting and the boss seems to be please with my work so no complaints.

Angela is getting married!!! Hooray! My friend up at WSU!!! I'm so excited for her! Hooray again!!! haha

And that is all I have time for tonight. I have too many things on my plate right now but I love you all! :)

December 22nd, 2008

So the days are winding down for the year and here I am sick. I realized my last post was WAY back in July. I have so much that needs to be said since then. Time is just getting away from me and I'm glad I finally have a chance, although not as welcome as I would have liked, to sit down and put some thoughts to blog.

The most important thing that has happened to me since July was the brief chance I had to date Clarissa. The story is the same, boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl decides she's going to stop dating me to date her missionary that might come back in two weeks. Her missionary never came home and that leaves us where we are now, still broken up with little/no contact. It was the closest thing to a relationship since COATO (yes, that is code) and even though it's been over for months I still find it noteworthy. Since then, we've both moved on and life is dandy.
Brandy is still gone. BRANDY!!! BUT, she's come back to visit once and is going to be here this week too. :) It's been rough not having your best chick friend around all the time especially when my schedule is so fubar and backwards from hers. I can't wait to see her. :)

I got laid off at the Rose Pedal because business was just way too slow. So that's 2 jobs that I've been laid off due to the economy in 6 months. But, I'm a supervisor now at Sorenson with 10 people under me and it looks like this job will be more steady for me. My biggest goal right now is to get rid of all my debt and that's kinda been difficult without a steady income so now it looks like I will be in the clear by next year still. :) 2nd goal is to get myself a condo... Although, I don't know how feasible that will be in case plans move forward with the band that's looking at me.

My mind is like one cohesive train ride that circles and circles without really ending up anywhere. ;) A band is looking into me to get me to help them record their album because they're looking for a new voice. It's my type of stuff so I don't know how well it will take off... ANYONE that knows me knows my music isn't really mainstream. WAS mainstream. Guess a few decades will do that to your music if it doesn't keep changing. Except you Metallica. You were always better before you started down your "path of perdition". We're talking about POST Black Album. Don't give me any lip Hettfield, you know what I'm talking about! Anyway, these guys have all the connections and have done a few tours in Japan already. They just want to get some more things together, record and then see where we can go from there. No guarentees but I'm singe, w/o children and have a love for music; if this goes anywhere, sign me up.

Dan got married. Best girl he could have chosen. I love Laura and she is a good balance for him. He was kinda pissing me off with the girls he was dating because they all weren't very smart or didn't mesh well with our family... My family is diverse. People say that but then again, most people don't have a family put together from 12 different adults. You know, sometimes I wonder how the hell I made it this far because I should be a lot more fucked up. 12 different adults make my immediate family complete. That's not including the parents of those 2 people (soon to be 3) that have married into the family. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to marry into this. A person that is not judgmental, a person that is smart (gotta keep the family tree straight), a person that gets along with everyone, has a keen sense of humor... List goes on. Point is, nobody Dan dated before cut it. Laura did.

Other than that, I don't do a whole lot with my friends anymore. It's a very small group I choose to spend time with. I work opposite hours of almost everyone I know so it's ostricized me from a lot of people I've been close to before but I'm not stretched as thin. And my bar tab is a LOT smaller. ;) I wish I could see all my friends for the holiday but I'm working overtime hours at work. "The deaf and hard of hearing don't take holidays from being deaf."

All in all, this year has been a big one. Not as much drama as years before, praise Allah, and I feel like I'm continuing forward. It's slow progress and a lot of hard work but I'm already better for it. If I died tomorrow I'd be please with what I've accomplished. I'm not going away anytime soon though because I still have lots ahead of me. I'm only 24 and the world is ahead of me.

July 12th, 2008

So remember the Twilight Concert Series I was talking about? FREAKING AWESOME! It was so great this week! I'm so sad I didn't get to stay for roots because the first show was great. "Stick it in the air!!!" Oooo.... and Cut Throat was on tap... [Blank] needs to learn to not dress like a hoe. Holy cow. I was discussing this with Brandy that there are two different types of girls out there: Classy and Trashy. When you have breasts, you can't always help not showing them, especially if they're huge. Fact of life. But, just because you have breasts doesn't mean that everybody and their dog wants to see them. Fun bags over here was popping out all night and I just couldn't handle it anymore and had to just say something. So, in my own special way, I told her by taking a picture of her, zooming in on them. I asked her if she knew that this was what she looked like when she left her place. Thankfully, I wasn't the only person saying things about them. We ran into a fellow co-worker of Brandy's who also said something. He was a guy also which is further proof that all men aren't dogs. Although I have been known to bark from time to time.

I STILL need a copy of Twilight... Anyone that knows anyone with a copy of it... I need it! Like, badly... Jaime already has already been reading so I'm falling behind. She's totally going to read ahead and then I'm going to feel stupid when she's read the whole book and I'm still looking for the freaking thing... There goes book-club out the door. At least I get to read the NYTimes everyday at work. That is actually the best thing about this job. I don't really get THAT much downtime but I do have internet, however limited, to read the daily newspaper. I feel like I'm getting smarter because I'm reading again. Read, read. Expand your mind. Yeah, that's right Lavar Burton. Scoot on over cause there's a new Reading Rainbow in this town.

Work has been fun. I've been pulling 13 hour days and all I can say about that is that I really don't mind. I think the work at both jobs is pretty great. I have enough down time that sometimes it's like I'm just hanging out rather than working but enough work to do that I don't get randomly distracted. It's nice that I have the internet too. Hooray internet! I've been re-scheduled to get Comcast the 31st and the guy talked me into getting cable and internet. I'm thinking that I just want internet now even though it will cost $25 a month my share vs. $37.

Amanda is mad and won't tell me why. What is it about people that get mad but can't restrain themselves enough to talk to you about it? I don't get it... If I give her a few days she'll be fine and probably won't even tell me why she was mad. I don't get that either... Communication. Some people use the tool and some people choose not to. Whatever works, right?

July 8th, 2008

Started work at Rose Pedal Records. It's awesome! I can't believe that I'm finally here... The majority of the work that comes in already has art so Raland hasn't needed me for much but he has started training me on the video transfer stuff. He won't stop praising me because I'm learning all the technical stuff with him only telling me once. Since I had tinkered around once when I had put together the Asia slide show for the family I knew a little of what to do. Everything relates to everything else so I don't really see what the big deal is but if Raland is happy, that's all that matters. He calls me genius boy which is a term I am quite fond of. ;) I watched a birth today. We had to edit out the bloody parts and seriously, I don't know what sick joke they thought this was but man alive... MAN ALIVE!!! Have you watched a birth before? WHO FILMS THIS SHIT?!?! And beyond that, what sick person makes someone else edit out the blood?! They saw it the first time so don't they know how much blood is there?! Seriously! I'm never having kids if I have to watch the wife go through that. I'd be the first to pass out with the smell and sounds and... It's just not my cup of tea. But, aside from that, I'm really enjoying that job. I work 5 hours and it only feels like 2, maybe 3. It's amazing how I'm just made for this job. The people, the music, the tech... Raland is grooming me to be the next him. Except I won't be as goofy. I know that's hard to believe but I can't be more goofy than him. Ever. But I admire the guy for what he's learned, what he does professionally and for what kind of a person he is.

So I've had a lot of time to think about life lately... Specifically about girls. I don't know how long it's been that I've felt like I've been on the rebound... I almost would have to say since Rhea, the opera singer. I was thinking back to the girls that I've dated and what kind of influence they have been on me and what changes I've made because of them... I haven't been really proud with the past 3 years of the girls I've chosen to date, save a few choice ones. I really need to sit down and really analyze what I've found attractive about these girls/women and really pick out all the qualities that I need to look for and decide on stricter "can't date you" guidelines. I talked a little about this to Brandy and a few other friends and the feedback they've given me has really helped. Considering everything that has happened to me, relationship wise, I can't believe how open I've remained. I have always believed this to be a great quality because I don't let my jaded soul dictate who I open up to. Lately, in contrast, I'm beginning to see that having barriers aren't necessarily a negative quality at all. In fact, they can protect us from repeating past mistakes, especially if we have a tendency to be around a certain type of people. I don't believe that stereotyping every woman I run into is the answer but making certain, educated judgments about what may or may not qualify them to date, I'm coming to discover, is quite necessary. I've tried staying away from the prissy, plastic girls because, frankly they're a pain in my ass and I don't like swimming in their bullshit. They talk forever about nothing and all they do is bitch and moan about this or that, never for one second making a compliment excepting a quick comment meant only as an intro into some sarcastic... Am I bitching? Hopefully you get the point and know the type of girl I'm talking about. But that is what I need to do MORE of. I need to pay attention to the things that will make me happy or would drive me crazy, no matter how cute she is when she looks at me with that smile...

I can't believe how much I can write here on the afternoon shift. Down time is HUGE when it gets deeper into the evening... I need to start reading something more than just the New York Times. :) Yeah, yeah throw me your "I hate liberals" and other "hate speech" like that. I can take it. Actually, speaking of liberalism, they had this GREAT article today about Fox News in the opinion section. I about died it was so funny. :) Apparently Fox News attacks anyone that tries to smear their name or smear the name of one of it's editors. Well, this NYTimes writer basically ranted about Big Bad Fox News. If you have any mind for the satirical or sarcastic, you'll love the article. :)

So, we're going to do Metal Gods this Thursday. I have only been once in... Wow. I can't even remember the last time I went... At least 5 months? Dang Gina. I've been missing out! Think of all the live metal I'm missing out on! Speaking of music... This week marks the beginning of the Twilight Concert Series courtesy of Salt Lake City! HOORAY!!! Sam Bush came last year and was AWESOME!!! I can't wait! I have Thursdays off so I'll be able to go to a bunch!

July 5th, 2008

Well, the move went relatively smooth. The biggest problem was getting all my furniture moved... I think I need to get a U-Haul truck next time... I didn't realize I had so much crap. If I move out of state, the only thing I'm considering keeping is my bed and TV. Seriously. If I go anywhere I can find a new couch or other furniture. Especially if I have a yard sale or something before I move, if I move. Maybe I'll take my dishes and stuff too... Hmm... I was talking to Mickie Wednesday and she was joking that I had as much stuff as a married couple. :) I thought that was pretty funny but it really is true... Well, besides the fact that my bed is made for only one person. And I don't have any matching "love towel" sets with her/my initials embroidered on them. I also decided that I think I enjoy not having a dresser. It's not very convenient when I'm trying to find places to put my clean clothes but I think there is a trade-off I'm willing to take when it comes to moving... Who wants to move a dresser?! They're awkward, heavy and generally the drawers fall out when you're lifting them and smack you right in the knee, if you're lucky. I'd rather live my "bohemian life" by throwing my clean clothes in the corner. I stack the clean clothes nicely so I can usually tell the clean one's from the dirty ones, although it's not a fool-proof system yet. I need to work on using different corners but old habits die hard, you know? ;)

I haven't been able to test out the pool yet but from what I can see, it's good. It's not as good as the pool at the parent's house but who can beat that?! Speaking of which, Krista and children came over to the pool to go swimming. I think my mom had the most fun because she's hungry for some grandchildren. :) She was really sweet and made us all a small lunch between swim sessions. Maryanne and Isabelle loved the pool so much that we were hard pressed to get them out of the pool. Krista almost had to resort to disciplinary action because they wanted to stay so badly. My patience was wearing thin but Krista kept everything in stride and eventually got everyone out and where they needed to be. I guess that's why I'm not a parent yet and she is. I have so much that I don't know but I hear it's a learn-as-you-go thing. What happens if your child is FUBAR-ed after you're done? Do you get to put them back in the oven and try again?

I'm at work writing all this. I have only gotten about 4 calls since I started my shift... All of which ended quickly. I've already read today's paper and thought moving onto other productive activities would be more rewarding that falling asleep and drooling on my keyboard. So this one time in college (sorry, I was reminded of this and have to share the story) I was in my ITW class (Intellectual Traditions of the West) and the professor was awful... I don't know if you've ever read Livy. I like Livy. But have you ever been read Livy in a monotone voice when you've already read it the night before because that was what was assigned? Needless to say, I was bored out of my mind. Because I wasn't exactly on a regular sleep schedule either (it's college, you know how it is. And it was my 1st semester so I was gung-ho about studying, doing extra group study sessions, etc.) I started dosing off. You know, when you're trying to focus on what is being said but then your vision gets blurry but then snaps back to full focus and all your concentration goes to keeping your eyes focused because you know that if they lose focus again, they might not re-focus? Then, the room went black and I felt myself falling. SMACK! Faceplant into my desk at maximum velocity and remember, this is in the middle of the professor reading Livy with a class size of maybe, 30 students. Good news is the hot girl behind me offered to give me her notes for the day. She was really sweet and was the spitting image of that girl from the movie clueless. I don't know the actress' name, if you can call her an actress. More like, youth pop-icon put into the lime-light because she looked good on camera. ;) But back to the story... Where was I? Oh, yeah. Hot girl. REALLY hot girl. Then, another time I fell asleep in the same class, same professor, different text. Anyway, hot girl kicked me to wake me up from behind and when I sat up my paper was stuck to my mouth because I had been drooling a bit.

So enough of my college blunders. :) ...well, for now at least. I'm sure that a few more stories will trickle down into these digital pages... So the 4th of July was yesterday. It was a great day, all in all. First, Krista came over to watch a movie at the new apartment. She said the thing she missed most about the old place was the fact that I had surround sound set up for my movies. I don't have all the room I had before so I don't know if I'll be able to set something like that up again... No harm in trying, I guess. Anyway, we watched Hide and Seek. Scared her so bad she almost cut my hand in two pieces squeezing it during the scariest parts. But I didn't mind to much because I fell asleep for most of the movie anyway. I can't wait to get on a more regular schedule for work. That also means 60 hrs a week but I'm sure I'm going to love every moment of it. I mean, who wouldn't want to work at a record label?! Maybe Hitler or Stalin. But they sucked as people anyway. Tools...

After my nap and the movie, Krista headed out and I left for Paul's place for a BBQ. Some of the best ribs I've ever tasted. We had a smoker for the meat, using mesquite wood for that rich, West-style cooking, onion glaze with BBQ sauce... Mmmm... I think I just made myself hungry... We decided to make it a karaoke night of it too which was great because we had about 9 or 10 singers there so the rounds went by quickly and were sometimes non-existant when people got distracted. I accidently left my rice there so I'm going to have to go back sometime this week. Rice is my staple food. Sometimes I really think that I should have been born on the other side of the world where rice is more of a staple... After, I went down to Kilby Court and met up with this married girl and her husband that I had met the night previous. We set off fireworks and just hung out until late. They were a chill bunch of people so I'm probably going to go hang out with them again. Hooray for Mary and her husband!