Arthur Gregory, Mursician.

looking back, looking forward, trying to be in the moment.

2012-02-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

we move on at break neck speed to 2012!

man, it's already februrarury. i can never adjust to the fact that every single year seems to go by even faster than the previous year. i can't believe that essentially, i spent an entire year focusing on school and work. never thought that would be me. i'm certainly not complaining, it was a great year, but i just look back and feel like so much of my time shouldve been devoted to finding and cementing lasting relationships. i watched a tv show called 'how i met your mother' and they were discussing passing the 'porch test.' whether you could see yourself hanging out on your porch with your friend when youre an old geezer. these are the people i want to gift my time to from now on. seems obvious, but for some reason in the past 4 or so years i have just been enjoying meeting new people so much that i have hopped from group to group, and none of the groups have held onto me tight enough to keep me around. (again, im so grateful for all the people ive met, but i miss relationship depth)

ramblin!

anyways. 2011 afforded me the opportunity to do alot of great things. obviously i began nursing school, got two grants, and began playing gigs with my band. another pleasant surprise was that i got the chance to roommate with my brother. i guess i should recant a bit. in terms of family i really am happy with the way i made them a priority last year. i barely had free time, and when i could make it happen i would hang out with my nephews, evan and liam, who are hands down the cutest kids ever made. sorry every other person ever born! and i've had a blast over the last year realizing how much i care for my sister and brother in law. they are definitely porch worthy.

but anyways, yeah, i was just feeling pretty trapped in my mom's basement which is NOT an ego booster, and charlie offered to let me room with him for cheap. i jumped at the chance and we ended up having 6 great months. i've been pretty fortunate to room with a great majority of the favorite people in my life. there are defintely a few others who i would like to get to live with but having had the chance to live with carrie and nik, dan and jon, zack, (tom and mom) and now char...i just am really thankful for my living situations.

me and char had a great summer. we played music, we went running and biking, we had a twilight zone night most nights, we danced while doing dishes, we drank on the stoop with the neighbors (who got me through a really rough patch of time), we danced in the rain, we made unused music videos, and we even played a little floor hockey. i miss it already.

again, i feel i should recant my first paragraph a bit. while i need a small crew for my future porch, if i was able to have a st louis sized porch, i would keep everyone i know around. i have met some of the most sincere and beautiful souls these last couple years. i don't even have time to discuss all the funny and cool people i have met in school (jeff, erica, jenny, among others) and out on the town (dozens of people come to mind, you know who you are), but one of the more interesting groups was the improve anywhere crew. we started off just imagining some funny scenarios in 2010, and it blossomed into a group that was performing at shows and galleries, modeling for websites and retail shops, and even making the news! here's a sample of the modeling i got to do, hahah, that is just so funny to me...

http://stl-style.com/_product_62179/Cherokee_People

that's all of the exciting things, but there has been a few difficult moments for sure. my grandma's dementia condition finally got to the point where we had to move her into a safer facility. it has been a very difficult transition for all involved. my mom has sacrificed most of her free time finding a new place for gma, getting her settled, taking care of her, and preparing gma's possessions for sale. the patience and unconditional love my mom has in her is inspiring. that woman never stops teaching me! ...but yeah, i moved into gma's house while we clean it up. it has been a weird experience. i keep trying to be ready to say goodbye to this house, but every time i imagine leaving for good i get teary eyed. i love change, but i fucking hate change too. i wish we could move on and just freeze places and people so we could come back and visit when we feel lost. at least we have the technology of pictures i guess. but that's almost more sad than not being able to go back. there was just so many good memories at my gma's house... man im rambly today.

another happening has been nothing short of tragic. one of my favorite people in the world had to experience the passing of her husband, tony, who was one of the strongest and kindest men i've ever had the honor of meeting. i mean this wasnt just some nice guy. this guy was the definition of man. he was strong in every sense of the word. he was a marine, a climber, a drummer, and a cancer survivor. he was a writer, an engineer, an artist, a gentle and passionate husband, and even a poodle enthusiast. he kept his dignity while facing death, which seems to be the real test of character. the guy always made you feel like a million dollars (or whatever it is now with inflation). he ended up losing the battle with GVHD. i've seen it before with my mom's best friend. i will never understand why people die young. it makes everything a little more real. everything a little more finite and temporary. a little more precious. watching a man like tony succumb to death made me realize again that i need to wake up with more purpose. i need to be the best transporter i can be. i need to be the best brother/son/friend/lover i can be. i need to be the best student i can be. i just need to focus on living right now. i need to be grateful for every breath i get the pleasure of sucking in and pushing out. i need to be grateful for every smile, kiss, and conversation i get to experience. i want to hug everyone a little tighter and dig a little deeper into their lives. i want to savor every good sip of whiskey, every rainy day, every mind blowing melody, every warm blanket on a cold night with a little more conscious appreciation.

we are so. fucking. lucky. to be alive. is there a point to it all? is God pulling strings? will i be as healthy and happy and alive tomorrow? i can't say. but i do know i am feeling it right now from my brain to my fingers and all throughout. i am just so happy to be here, and i hope i can keep making the most of the little time i get left. here's to 2012, let's hope life keeps giving me new and unexpected experiences, lets hope i can start cementing porch relationships, and lets hope i keep waking up with a purpose and a hunger for life!

coolest gig yet

2011-12-12T13:47:00.000-08:00

welp, i kinda gave up on the blog, clearly. it seems that like 2 people read it so its not worth devoting time that i dont have to keep it up to date. but today was just a really fun day i would like to remember so im going to document, and ill throw some cliffnotes in real quicklike.

over this year the band began playing shows! the first gig came when a friend who works at a bar asked us if we were playing still and if we wanted to open for someone. we quickly asked my brother charlie if he would be willing to learn the songs, and to my pleasant surprise he was excited about it! weve played about 7 shows in 4 different venue, and we have grown in leaps and bounds. charlie used to shake uncontrollably on stage and now he dances like the hippy free spirit he was meant to be. i used to be scared to look at an audience and now (when the audience is nice, anyways) i am free to be myself and joke around and talk! we even got my friend chris to start playing drums with us at shows, which really makes us sound like a true band.

i played a show with another band and sang one song. the owner of the venue (the firebird) later said to charlie that it was the best local vocal performance he had seen.

we finished our demo record and put it up for free download at arthurandthelibrarian.bandcamp.com we are too poor and busy at the moment but we fully plan on making a cd, and david deck will be getting the very first copy free of charge for his support and encouragement.

we already have a second albums worth of material and are thinking of saving up gig money and going to a real studio for this one.

we were asked to play at the xmas party for st louis' music magazine 'eleven' magazine! that should be quite fun.

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nursing school is going swimmingly so far! i just finished my third semester, and second semester of clinicals and am looooving it. i am connecting so well with my patients and learning more than i thought i would have at this point...still soooo much i dont know. nurses are amazing. i want to be a good nurse so bad.

we finished 'demos' this year, which was the most stress inducing portion of the schooling.

i am still transporting at st johns, but have recently approached a manager about becoming a nurses aid. im ready for the next step.

school has been so full of tough moments and information that at times i feel very fragile and will tear up at the silliest moments (im like one of those girls who starts crying at a hallmark commercial. its weird). this career is definitely going to give me a thick hide. ...seeing death is a weird experience. i dont have time to explain that in depth unfortunately...

----

anyways, today is why im blogging. me and charlie had a gig of a different sort. we played and talked about music to a 2nd grade class at st. stephens. we had prepared 2 songs (cant buy me love, and charlie's jaguar and the fool song) and figured they would be bored after that. boy were we wrong! after our two songs and discussion, almost every kid raised their hand with questions. then they started requesting more songs! we played another song and answered another whirlwind of questions! then they asked for more songs! so we played impending doom. when they asked what the name of the song was charlie said, 'impending moon.' : ) then they asked for yet another song! we didnt have any songs ready that were really 2nd grade appropriate, so we played not in nottingham from the disney robin hood. i changed the lyrics on the fly to, 'cant there be some happiness for me? maybe at st steves.' : ) at that point we had been there about 50 minutes fielding questions and playing, so we said we had to go. some of the kids asked if we were on youtube and wanted to look us up (what? second graders?)

the class gathered round and we took a picture with them : ) a kid looked up at charlie and said, 'can i go home with you guys?' hearts=melted. then as we were putting our guitars away they all clapped and asked for more songs. many of them came up and gave us high fives while 3 of them came up nervously and gave me a hug. oy! more heart melting. one girl came up and said i should be a music teacher and that we were really good at music, and handed me a little piece of paper that said, "you are awsome, Aislin."

it was a good day.

fall semester, new year, tuition paid for, music progress

2011-01-27T14:19:00.000-08:00

hah. well since the last time i posted a lot has happened. it is a new year, for starters. fall semester went swimmingly. it was quite easy and i met a handful of cool people who are joining me in nursing school, some of them even working at st johns. so its been a very supportive atmosphere, whenever im feeling lost i have a network to lean on.

im just gonna hit the highlights since my time is brief and im at bread co. i am actually on my new laptop that i got for xmas! i got it mainly to start working on song ideas while aubrey is away. however, me and aubs have still been playing music and recording whenever we are in the same town. we have an albums worth of songs done and will be making a cd soon titled, 'reverend white pigeon speaks on love and the end of the world.' and the cover art will be said pigeon courtesy of miss aubrey, who is quite the artist.

among her other skills, she is a talented networker and knows people at a radiostation in seattle, and a dj at loyolas college radio station. we were played on that station already and hope to get some more air time soon! so yeah, music is going great.

and though it would seem things cant get better, i found out some more wonderful news in this young new year. ive been communicating with a lady through missouri career sources ever since i was on unemployment, and she finally came through for me, and will be assisting me with the REST of my school bills! did i even talk about the labor grant? ohhh my lord. ok, so long story short, i got into a nursing program through the dept. of labor, and they are paying for 60% of my tuition. im not even going to talk about how my advisor didnt tell me about it, but suffice to say not only am i already into nursing school without having to be on any wait lists, i am getting everything. everything...paid for by the govt, because im broke. it seems like a sign from God that im heading in the right direction. before this all happened i could barely tie my shoes without asking someone for help (parents, friends) in areas i didnt understand. but now that ive decided what i want to do with my career, ive felt a weird new confidence that has made me a bit of a man of action. i wouldnt say this is in all areas of life, but its good to know im not completely useless.

those are the biiiig things in life, lots of fun stuff happening on the side, my brother moved into his own place, i started doing events with an improve group, i sold my car (which ive been trying to do for many months), and ive had quite a few fun roadtrips up to chicago.

heres a link to our website and to the radiostation that miiiight play our stuff again (on thursdays from 4-6) :

http://www.wix.com/howardaubrey/arthurandthelibrarian

http://wluw.org/ (click on the cloud at the top to listen)

summer school ending, 90 days at st johns, singing competition

2010-08-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

well the last 3 months have been very busy but fruitful for sure.

i have my last class of the summer tomorrow and will end up with three A's in three classes. i cant believe i did so well in stats, but human growth psych and anatomy were both reeeeally awesome classes that i enjoyed immensely.

anatomy is just an amazing thing to learn in general. knowing the intricacies under the skin makes you feel more at one with your body (thats not the wording im looking for but thats the basic gist), and i really love to learn about it. for my last paper in psych i had to apply 12 learned concepts to a movie and i chose magnolia because i forgot about royal tennenbaums. but i had a blast breaking down the characters and got a 100 percent!

st johns has been quite an adventure. its been very somber this week (if you didnt hear, one of my coworkers was murdered in the parking garage...long story), and im glad for the weekend break to get outdoors and maybe go peach picking with charlie.

i had my 90 day orientation at st johns today. so far so great. love the atmosphere and the work. ive realized lately tho that my department is frustrating for me because i am walking by myself all day only passing my co workers in the halls. so it is tough to get to know people and make friends that way, and the few i have clicked with have changed depts. its a confusing question when people ask me if i like the job bc i do like everything about it, but at the same time i am left wanting that interaction each day.

i really crave relationship. i mean who doesnt? but its been a tough few months bc i feel miles away from any transparent intimacy. people have become too busy and crabby and all i want to do is share some love and interaction! gaaah.

what could be exacerbating (?) the problem is the fact that i just read dharma bums a few weeks ago, and the spirit of that book just makes me want to live! ray is all about sucking the marrow out of life. he travels he loves he drinks he writes and dances. i want all of that plus the responsibility. ...im really trying to teach myself to live in the present moment even more than i already do. the past and future can really distract me from the perfect day at hand if i dont make a conscience effort to smile. but i do.

in musical news, i turned in a demo for a singing competition through joy fm. if im selected in the top 10 finalist i will perform at six flags on the air on the 14th. my demo was preeeetty terrible, so either God will have a hand in things, or the competition will have to be awwweful. nevertheless, i am pumped about putting forth the effort. i recorded an original song and will find out if i made the cut monday morning (theyll announce it on the website). if i do play, please turn on your radio on the 14th.

i could go on and on, but i have to wake up in 6 hours for my last test!

deck, thanks for the link! that was a very encouraging read.

carrie, thanks : ) my favorite invented word so far is unisexy. use it!

pond, st johns job, maryville, music.

2010-04-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

well hello again. quite a few happenings, so i feel i should jot a few memories down here while i have a moment.

first a funny story, if i didnt tell you already. starts with my sister having her second boy (liam!). her and nik were preparing to leave the hospital so i was in charge of evan for the afternoon. we went to the park. after the playground we walked around the pond watching the ducks and turtles. there were more turtles than i had ever seen at once sun bathing on a log. we sat right next to them and watched until i had the thought, "hm, i bet evan would get a kick out of seeing how they go into their shell and whatnot" soooo, i crawled up to the edge, waited for the perfect moment and snagged one. it was a glorious moment that lasted all of two seconds because the next thing i remember is being on my back underwater sinking and cursing (while holding the turtle up out of water as if it couldnt breathe under). i threw the turtle ashore and searched in blindness for the land. as i went to pull myself out i grabbed the turtle again. finally i got out but the turtle got away and i was green from head to toe from the algae or seaweed. green beard. green glasses. green clothes. ew. i started laughing and looked to evan assuming hed be laughing, but no. no, he was looking at me thinking 'crazy uncle arty...sigh' basically, my phone was ruined. so i got a new one. the end.

on the day i got my phone i also got my job at st johns. this could very well be the first step in my future. my career. ive applied for maryvilles nursing program which will start in a couple weeks and will reek havoc on my wallet. but im excited about having clear direction for once. i only hope im not missing God in some way, because i still dont feel like i know what im doing ever. but it makes me happy to think about doing nursing. i start the patient transporter position may 3rd so we shall see.

aubrey is moving soon and taking with her another piece of my heart and my musical partner. it sucks. balls. i dont know what to do with my time or music now. i really hope i can keep the positive momentum that she began with my music tho. ive grown alot as a singer and writer in the past few months...thats the silver lining i suppose...not gonna go into this on a public forum.

as far as slade and tucker, thats also a sad tale. they are pretty involved in their own lives and dont have time for the band. it is truly unfortunate because we write some fun ditties and i hope someday theyll be enjoyed by more than 3.

im off now to go watch 'the importance of being earnest' because it is ridiculous that ive never seen or read the play. have a good one and keep smiling! gotta have the bad to enjoy the good (thats what im telling myself)

2 more roadtrips, searching for work, music

2010-02-10T15:07:00.000-08:00

over the past month its been a struggle to not feel the pressure of not having a job. ive been trying to appreciate my freetime rather than feel lazy. other than applying for jobs and looking into getting into school again, i have gone on a few more roadtrips.

i went to nashville with my mom. i was feeling distant from her and thought what better way to reconnect with someone than a trip? we had a great time and some good heart to heart talks. although i still think she is struggling with the fact that i am not the same little boy she used to take trips to nashville with. its tough on me...knowing my mom wishes i was like the old me. but what can i do? i must move forward.

i took a trip to tulsa all by myself to see dan. i saw his new house and how much improvements they had made on it. played boardgames with his fam, went sledding,went to a going away party for someone i didnt know, and drove home listening to the 7 mixed cds aubrey made for me.

last week, me and aubrey went and played at a metro stop to start preparing playing in front of people. we are sounding good and almost ready for a performance id say. carriage house on the other hand...is a slow work in progress. new songs have been hard to come by, but two im very happy with is one about a wind up bird and one about a phantom limb.

ive been racking my brain for nearly a month now, and i cant think of any position that would be better for me than greg the murse (male nurse). so ive begun looking into programs at umsl. thats all for now

into the new year.

2010-01-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

ive spent the first few days of the new year looking back at 2009. i was pretty shocked when i looked back at how fast this year had gone by and how much i had actually done with it. i was rarely home, spent alot of time meeting new people, dancing and socializing out in public, which was never really my thing. so in that aspect, 2009 was a great year for me growing in confidence in myself.

it was a pretty fantastic year overall, the good and bad. i was in a movie with george clooney, i was a dj, i got a new car, i met a ridiculous amount of new cool people, and i started playing open mics in st louis. i experienced firsts like romantic heartbreak and getting laid off. i started a potential band. i gave blood. carrie got preggers, jolene had a baby, nobody close died, dan got a house, jessie got married, jon got engaged. i may be pretty broke, but my life is so full of great people and moments.

in 2010 i look forward to getting a place i can call my own for a short season. hopefully i will find direction, prioritize and get some things accomplished!... if not, thats okay too, its bound to be a great year either way. i would like the band to gig once or twice, i would like to get a direction career wise. i would like to finish a few short stories, but that seems unlikely at this point.

so far the new year is getting off to a hopping start and i hope it stays this way. i went on a snowboarding vacation with jessie, a friend of mine, and it was fantastic. i was shocked at how fast i picked up some of the techniques and just had a blast. i even finished the trip successfully going down an expert hill. certainly one of my new passions in life. i have also had the great fortune of spending time with aubrey. we sit in front of her fire place smoking, talking, and playing music (she plays the uke and her mom plays the clarinet). not a whole lot better in this world than music by the fire with good company.

also, just a few updates. usfidelis ended up closing their doors a week or so ago. i am currently unemployed and very excited about the possibility of living and working near st louis city. today i am applying for a few more nursing assistant jobs. i am seriously contemplating that direction right now, and want to see if i can handle it. i just want to be able to stay happy, which seems to be an interesting struggle all adults face.

finally, if you havent seen up in the air yet, and you want to try and see me (i did end up making the cut!) then keep an eye out about 3/4 of the way thru the movie when he goes to chicago (it will say chicago on the screen) to see the girl. when he is leaving chicago walking to the right in the airport i am clearly sitting in the background for about 1.5 seconds. haha

quote for the day: give me a break with your could haves and should haves -from the movie whatever works

i love life and see good days.

very busy, heres some cliff notes.

2009-11-18T20:36:00.000-08:00

the past 2 weeks have been eerily good times. last week i got a mini promotion, i got out of my 5th consecutive ticket, i discovered 200 missing dollars on a paycheck, i was asked to dj again, i took a roadtrip to chi with charles, and i got to go to the secret spot (a little cave under a creek waterfall in the woods) with some great new people in my life (nate and aubrey). amongst other great nights of course.

i really havent been getting much sleep at all because each night seems to be a new adventure! ive been trying to prioritize my time and decide what activities are worthwhile, but its so tough. at this stage in life i have a bunch of different groups of good friends. so each night is something different, not to mention getting fam time in on the weekends! im even making friends at work again, and its just getting ridonk.

speaking of work, i read this book recommended by aubrey called the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde a few weeks ago. it is fantastic. its got so many provacative quotes and thoughts on art, aging, and the influence of a mentor.

carriage house is having a blast practicing. we certainly have musical chemistry, which i havent experienced much in my life, so its great. we had our first paranormal happening last night at the church too. at the end of practice the light over the balcony turned itself on, and slade said he didnt even know where that light switch was! creepy. today it was off again.

also, evan is just getting cuter. how does he do it? i dont know. but every night i come home he has come up with some new word, laugh or action that just tickles my soul. we played a version of hide and seek last night that i cant even describe properly. we basically laughed the whole time.

and finally, i read a hemingway quote today that said 'happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing i know.' it kinda made me feel dumb for enjoying my life so much right now. but oh well, i am self aware enough to realize im not intelligent, and i think that puts me a step ahead of most unintelligent people anyways.

open mics, poptart girl, great weekend

2009-10-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

quick update. the last week or so has been pretty fun so i gotta report. last thursday i played an open mic with clare. we played a beatles cover in our own style and an original duet. it was surprising how many people were there, and it was nice to have a few of them come up and say they really enjoyed our songs. nothing better when you feel that someones compliment is heartfelt.

tuesday was the highlight of my week tho. i found out that i still have a pair! i went to the city to say bye to kevin and he got me into another free show (dr dog.) that marks 6 consecutive shows i havent paid for, i believe. thats divine provision my friends. it was a grand show, those guys have mastered harmonizing the guitar parts, and that was something ive always wanted to do. at the show i ran into my friend alison and her buds. so we all decided we should go somewhere to eat. everything was closed but someone mentioned that pinup bowl had poptarts. i was so hungry that it sounded like the greatest idea in the world.

so we went to pin up and i Bee lined it to the bar and asked for a pop tart. there was a ridiculously cute girl sitting there and so i pretended not to see her. but something happened that never happens, she talked to me. "that is the cutest. ive never seen anyone order a pop tart here. thats so cute." apparently her dogs name was pop tart also, so small world huh. soooo, after talking a bit i got my powdered sugared blueberry pt and i said it was nice meeting you and returned to my friends. then i thought what the 'ell, and went back and got her number. which is the very first time i have asked for a strangers number. very fun. nothing will probably come of it, but at least i have a cool story.

and this weekend was also a blast. i had a great saturday night hanging with new friends, and sunday was just what i needed. i spent almost the whole day lazing around.

well, first i played soccer with alison's coed team. it was an eye opener. ive been socially smoking, or smocially soaking as some would say, for about 5 months. and it caught up to me. i couldnt run at ALL, and it was so painful, which in turn made me a dreadful soccer player. at one point i actually just fell right on my face while dribbling (no one guarding me either). soooo, yeah, i am really inspired to start taking care of my body again. we shall see.

and finally tonight, i recorded some song ideas on abbys computer and it just sounded aweful. i cant believe how much i love my music when im playing it and how dumb it sounds when im listening. i am at a crossroads now trying to figure out what im doing that makes my writing sound so silly. hopefully, time will tell!

i love life and see good days.

carriage house

2009-10-06T23:10:00.000-07:00

small progress has been made and it excites me so much. i have begun practicing with clare, if we actually start getting gigs we've decided we want to be called 'arthur and eleanor.' we have 3 songs down pretty well so far. however, i also have had 2 practices with these fellows i met named slade and tucker. they are very cool people and have great taste in music. we've been talking about getting together to jam but finally started meeting a couple sundays ago. we meet at a carriage house behind the church slades dad owns off hanley road. so for now we are calling ourselves such (altho, it kinda reminds me of carol house) its really been fun. i LOVE making music, and its two different experiences playing alone and playing with others. both good, but very different energies.

tonights get together went so well that i am now impatient. i want to start having full songs together so as to open for other bands. but alas, we have a long road ahead. we have lots of half songs, and, while slade has a great singing voice, we also want him to be our drummer, and he is just starting. so time will tell.

also, this weekend at a party with friends 2 cards players showed up. i dont watch baseball so i didnt know it was anyone worth mentioning, but apparently ryan franklin is kind of a big deal. he and todd w something were there and looked bored the whole time.

more importantly, zack was in town for his sisters wedding, and we had a good ole time as usual. we were able to catch up on all kinds of stories about the past 6 months. we also went bowling with kev and that is quickly becoming an annual tradition for when we are together. i shot the best of my life (172) but still somehow ended up losing all bets placed...again!

ugh...its 130 and i have to wake up tomorrow. theres more im sure, but ive gotta hit that hay.

priorities, moving on, DJing

2009-09-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

deck! how was cali? hows the new house? im pumped for you and miss you terribly man. i appreciated your priorities list. i asked a few people and you were the only one who responded. i still am working on mine but i know that creating music and spending as much quality time with people i love are probably the top two in my life right now. obviously i dont want it to be that way. i want God to be there in the number one spot....but im just being honest. im finding i operate the best when im striving for honesty not perfection.

i do really like those things you strive for deck, and it confirmed why i respect you more than most anyone ive ever or ever will meet. those are pretty much words to live a life by "be a humble man of faith, who loves his wife genuinely, raises children of strong character and gives more than i take." mm mm mmmm right now i guess the goal is to be a humble man of faith who loves himself and those around him genuinely and gives more than i take.

i am at a little bit of a loss right now. i love that i am self aware enough to know my priorities are out of wack, but frightened i will never remember how to be alone with God on a regular basis. frightened that i am starting to become ok with not understanding so many things about life. for instance, my bro in law tried having a convo with me about politics during a long car ride. and i just went mute. i didnt care and i didnt want to care. i dont understand governments and i dont see what good it would do even if i did. so have i just gotten mentally lazy? yep. i think thats it. this is the most introspective ive been in months! haha

i just read someone elses blog and it encouraged me to instrospect again....fyi

lifes been good. dont know if i mentioned this, but i saw this terrific movie called 500 days of summer and it really struck a chord with me. its basically about a failed romance and it helped show me other people have felt the pain i have, and it gave me great comfort and hope for the future. breaking up is the suckiest experience, and i certainly hope i dont have to endure that many more times in my life. cant even imagine divorce.

but anyways...

the real reason im even signing onto my blog tonight is because i finally had a blog worthy occurrence! friday night i experienced a first. something i didnt even think i would have the opportunity to do, so i didnt even bother putting it on a 'to do before i die list'. but now i can AND cross it off.

ok, enough preface... i was a DJ!

i got off work on friday at 730. and was planning on having a long shower and taking it easy (either chilling with charles or just going right to bed bc i was pretty sick all day) then i got a text at 8pm from my good friend Doug, who is the DJ mastermind behind a couple dance parties in st louis. the text read "hey totally random....but think you'd be down for djing tonight @ 80s club? i can give you a crash course/$80 and tips. Lmk?"

i couldnt believe it. i still cant. what a cool opportunity. so i said what time?

i got there about 10 and he showed me the way it works. split screen with one song thats playing and one in cue. i just had to pick an 80s tune drag it to the cue, check the levels to make sure it wasnt too loud or quiet, and then fade from one song to the next. it was pretty easy, but very intimidating and nerve racking. definitely the time of your life, dont get me wrong, but scary knowing the party rests upon your fingertips.

many many cute girls requesting silly songs. im still working on appreciating 80s music, but i am pretty much a convert after that night. i hate all the good lookin girls distracting me in life btw. its just knowing that right now everyone is a potential future. i dont like it. its overwhelming. i wish girls had to wear badges or something that explained what was really going on behind the pretty face. like "clingy" or "drama queen" or "petty" this way you wouldnt even have to waste time thinking hmmm im super nervous about talking to her bc u could simply find out the crazy before wasting any time. ...if im honest, im probably still too damaged to even be thinking about girls at all...yeah, im tired of thinking about the future. forget this paragraph. im just keeping my eye on what today brings for now (okay, technically tomorrow, since its 1am, but you know what i mean).

also some guy tipped me 10 to play thriller! haha

and finally, im reading travels with charley at work. falling in love with steinbeck all over again. and i had a convo with an old fam friend yesterday about writing and realized i have alot of new life material. so i need to get back on the writing horse! thats an exciting thought if i can get some discipline and remember how to use my brain.

all in time.

open mics and a quick summer.

2009-08-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

well this summer was definitely the fastest few months of my entire life. it has been a blur of work, playing music, and spending time with new people. i wish i couldve just skipped over july to be perfectly honest, so im glad that it went so quick.

august was a mix of good times and work... i could have my time line mixed up but i think about a month and a half ago carrie (my sister) found an open mic night in downtown st charles. then i went online and found another one, which inspired me to start practicing my songs again. its been really exciting over the past month+ ive been practicing my songs alot and playing once or twice a week.

playing out is very rewarding. it either goes really well and you can see people enjoying it, or it goes really aweful and you can learn what not to do for the future. not to mention you get to meet other musicians and see other people doing the same thing.

the first one i was so nervous that i couldnt really properly breathe/sing. it went well enough tho, people seemed to enjoy it, and a girl that also played piano came up and said she liked it.

then after 3 open mics in 3 different locations i got pretty comfy in front of people (which i didnt think would ever happen, so that was exciting in itself). i performed silly songs like rocky raccoon and hit me baby one more time as well as my original songs. and its cool to get input...one guy told me i was pitchy, one told me i sounded like fray (which seems like a critique to me), yet little things like seeing the barista come over from the bar to watch are really encouraging.

...
super sick of the job. going to begin job hunting in the city within the week. im pretty tired of commuting to everywhere i need to be, especially with an suv. i have no time for little things like journaling or running or watching a movie. i bought running shoes so i could start running this summer and i havent run once. ugh!

i probably have tons of stories, but right now im too tired to remember.

scatterbrained update.

2009-06-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

most likely i will leave out all of the important details. but i feel i must at least put forth effort to update again. usfidelis has been completely restructured in order to stay legit, which is awesome idealogically. in practice it's aweful. the management is just kind of a joke, and the last two weeks have been a living nightmare.

i have had 4 different managers in 2 weeks, i was promoted to the call backs sales then to the main sales floor for 3 days and then back to callbacks. ive been through at least 7 'training' sessions where they tell us all of the things that have changed and what we must do to keep our jobs. lots of people have quit, even sam! and my sales have been nothing short of humiliating. and the power trips we must endure are maddening.

my buddy chad got demoted even tho he has the highest closing percentage on the floor for absolutely no clear reason. and the manager i had would tell me that putting notes into a file for more than 5 minutes was bullshit and tell me that i shouldnt be kicking my 'little ball' (soccerball) around instead of studying the scripts and focusing, even tho 5 minutes prior he was saying to be relaxed and overly friendly on the phone. the inconsistencies are outrageous everyday. they tell us to make a friend on the phone and then tell us in the very same breathe to get thru the script quickly to get to the "NO" so we can rebuttle them. what?

anyways, now thats off my chest, i am still enjoying the challenge of sales. to do it correctly is a major rush. and i had my best day in a month on friday! also my newest of managers is actually a great guy.

outside of work i housesat for dad recently whilst they went frolicking throughout europe. good fun and a good lesson on responsibility. taking care of a hyper dog is just infuriating. but i loved coming home to the city each night and i loved playing piano each night with a nice jack and coke or glass of oj. i even learned to enjoy waking up 20 minutes early to take wesley for a walk in the park. also, while in venice charlie proposed to julie on a bridge!!!! how effing romantic is that. maaaan, i love that kid!

i am still being pleasantly surprised with how much i learn to love st louis more each year. the city has much more open doors once you are a bit older too. im learning this more and more as well. finding gems like london calling and the fucking bike club. not to mention all the little spots you can go like the loop, the cwe, clayton, washington ave, grand, and all the beautiful parks. and i keep meeting new and interesting people too, which just gives me so much hope for humanity and the future of my life (shout out to some cool people ive met: doug, eleanor, erin, tyler, and chad).

a bit melancholy that mj passed on, he was a mad genius and ultimately a tragic story that may be forever misunderstood.

....yet, happy that mars came out with a new disc, and i just found out im going to coldplay and pitchfork in july!

speaking of concerts. i also got to be a part of 2 more free concerts and this time legitimately. one was santigold (the picture) and that was just tons of fun, the other was the dittybops at madart gallery (where kevin sprayed a glowstick all over me...thats what she said).

i love life and i see good days.

good days.

2009-04-26T22:01:00.000-07:00

well life is great. i have been number 4 in the department the whole month, and am most likely going to try my hands at being a salesman next month! i dont know if you've noticed or not, but there have been 3 front page headlines, and one today show interview that totally bashed us (us fidelis). it has been alright tho, business hasnt been affected at all, and our businesses practices have become way better. so while i am embarrassed of my companies past, i am excited about the future.

i have decided i want my next car to be a nissan xterra, now i just have to find out which one exactly.

this weekend was fun. saturday was a bbq at dads where i found out jeff and jolene are moving to st lou and are having a freaking baby! then i went dancing all night, which is probably the first time since 7th grade that i went out just to dance (sans prom). it was a blast. ran into rach, whom i havent seen in a criminally long time, she is so skinny! its crazy. she looks so youthful and happy.

then today i went to laumier park and soaked up the fresh air and good company. then i played ping pong and painted carrie and niks basement a bit. great weekend all in all.

cant think of any interesting stories for now, but if i do, ill come back. miss you all!

social bug

2009-04-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

i have been bitten by the social bug. its wonderful. over the past 3 weeks or so i have been going out like crazy and i cant even keep track of the nights. so if i repeat a story, i apologize. one weekend, i actually stayed on 4 different couches in 4 nights. great fun.

so one weekend i went to a bon fire at the dollarhides, and saw the cottage of my dreams. then that sunday i went and played bingo at Pi. it was very interesting because the number caller was dressed in drag. this was a very weird experience bc i thought i was going to just play bingo, but really he.....i mean she, would take a 15 minute break between each game to "dance" (walk around the room in high heels flirting with guys) and "sing" (lip sink to songs like big girls dont cry). after this, me abby and my new friend tucker went to the house she was sitting and drank lots of wine and smoked alot and played music. the reason i want to remember this night is bc we spoke in english accents the whole time and it reminded me of wonderful nights in london. they called me gerzshery all night and it quickly became my favorite nickname of all time. i was late to work the next day, but it was worth it.

ive been spending time with tons of new and cool people like abby and tucker, slade, the journey girls (emily, janessa, dena, cher, and ashley), work people like spanish and brad, and old friends like katie and and kevin. its been great. i love new seasons like this.

so heres a couple more quick stories about my night life:

one night there was a victor wooten concert at the pageant. dont ask me who invited me or how i knew about it or why i came to the loop because i honestly dont remember. but i do remember seeing emily at the front door when i tried to just waltz in. the lady at the door said the boxoffice was closed so i couldnt enter (which was lame of her, bc the concert was half over anyways). im terrible at taking no for an answer, so i asked emily for her ticket. she said she didnt feel comfortable doing that. somehow she ended up handing it over... so i went to the other door. the guy at this door, luckily, looked very much like drugs had fried all of his useful brain cells. his jaw was slacked open and he was hunched there gazing at me. i handed him the ticket and he said, this has already been swiped, where is your stamp? (i didnt know you needed a stamp on your hand) so i just stood there and raised my eyebrows and lifted my shoulders as if to say, i dunno where it escaped to. he looked at me for a few seconds and then just stamped my hand...hahaha. then my cousin walked by, and i said AMANDA! and looked at the burnout gate keeper and said, hey that's my cousin! as if he cared. then in my moronic state of excitement i asked amanda, what are you doing here? she said, i love victor wooten, what are you doing here? and i responded, I just got here!
...i immediately looked back at the door keeper realizing what i just said. he started stuttering something and so i turned quickly and entered the venue. it was awesome. ireally hope this blog isnt incriminating evidence.

cut to a week later, i went to see the journey girls again for emily's bday extravaganza. they were at a concert at the pageant. so i went to the loop to wait for them to get out. but at the midpoint of the concert they came outside to say hi to me, and they came out so full of energy. they all hugged me, and dena called me a ray of sunshine or something ridiculously nice like that, and they were talking about how fun it was dancing in there....so of course, i began thinking about the week previous. i tell them i want to go in. and i cant remember if it was my idea or dena's, but dena licked her hand and we pushed our hands together to get the stamp to rub off. it didnt really work, but it showed enough stamp to where i felt it would.

so one of them gave me their ticket and i walked up and looked at my hand and said, 'aw man, dang, my stamp mustve washed off in the bathroom' or something and the new door person said, 'no problem at all, hey Johnny give him a new stamp!' then i was in like flin!

after the concert i danced some more. the journey girls all jumped into my dad's van and we headed to maplewood. there, we met up with a bunch of other cool people. at this place called cusamanos, and we all danced goofy and it was great times. i met a few more new people, such as a gal from work, april and her home schooled friend jess.

im tired now, so this post ends here. at work, i ended in the top 20 for march. and am presently in the top 10 for april! (out of 200+) my boss reprimands me alot for showing up late on saturdays, but he also said that if i keep working hard, i will get promoted quickly, because 3 managers have asked about me already!

so many titles, i cant pick one...lets go with happy st pats

2009-03-18T00:24:00.001-07:00

okay, so a brief update on the job. it started out feeling more like 8 hours of recess. sam allowed us to watch movies between calls, we (the spanish dept and i)juggled with a mini soccer ball, me and my new music friend paul played guitar at lunch, i played the freerice game online, and there was just an overall sense of merriment and casualness all around. i dont know if i mentioned this also, but the building itself is an old mall which has been renovated and now has a trampoline, bball court, game room with pingpong and videogames, a huge cafe/open area, and a workout room. so yeah, less of a job, more of a party.

but before i get into that, i should mention the first whole week of work i was real sick. i was throwing up and sweating like mad at night, i was too dizzy and pained to stand or walk in the day, and still tried a few times to come in and be a friendly voice.

i survived. so the next three weeks were filled with this fun time with my good friend sam at the helm and plenty of fun people to keep me busy. then i got the news. a night shift was being implemented. sam was taking the new post. what followed was very unexpected. not only was he taking his guitar with him, he was taking more than half of our team of 25 people and moving to the other side of the mall. : (

so today was day one without them. it was tough. sams office is stripped of the frank sinatra posters and character. the office is quiet without my dwight-like cubicle neighbor josh and my other cubicle neighbor who talks like he is black. and my new boss is actually concerned with my job performance...what? sam would actually pull me away from calls to come hang out in his office and play guitar for him. this guy is screening my calls and critiquing me.

its more of a job now, but i am still really enjoying it. in the past two weeks i have moved up from being 110th or so out of 210 to being number 17 for the month. so i am hoping i will continue to prosper. if i do, i will be promoted in a matter of months to the sales floor.

so thats work. in my social life, i have met many new people recently and it has been a welcome addition in the craziness of life. most notable are the journey girls. 4 gals who are all uniquely interesting and fun. i went to sashas wine bar with them once and the next night was invited to a sneak peak of watchman. it was fun. we actually kind of had to sneak into the sneakpeak. we butted.

tonight i hung out with them again for st pattys day. which is rapidly becoming one of my most beloved holidays. it never fails to bring a sense of excitement. the green, the booze, the nostalgia. it is after all the day of my first contact wearing in london! i was actually suppose to be seeing maps and atlases for free, but the show filled before i got there~! sadness down the windowpane...

but the night was not ruined. i went and had a grand ole time in the cwe. went back to the chase garage for the first time since i left and saw its improvements. saw dan akroyd at sub zero promoting his new vodka. i saw the coneman himself. and i also had an interesting talk with a man named rich and his lady nancy. i jokingly asked him if he had 'earned' his beads and he straight faced told me that he didnt have to earn anything, bc he made 50 an hour. i laughed and asked what he did. he was a painter (gray haired, beard, hippyish). then he got really cool and introduced us to nancy, the love of his life. they told us the story of how they met bc she needed a painter and he did it for her for free, then she made him dinner. and something about how she played oh danny boy on the flute and made him cry. it was beautiful.

also, in my social life, i played a few hockey games in my friend josh's league for him. on the day of the championship we had to play a game to get into the champ game. in o.t. i scored a one timer. it was exhilerating. then in the big game we had a huge brawl. as it was being sorted out by the refs one of the opposing players came onto our bench and sucker punched josh. 6 of our guys then jumped him and the refs and owners freaked out. josh was bleeding, everyone was holding up fists. it was over. we didnt get to finish.

its 3 in the morning...i gotta stop typing even tho i want to tell the story of the victor wooten show...later.

an effort to catch up, part 1

2009-03-06T19:44:00.000-08:00

sweet jesus i need to update! i forgot about this, because im back in st louis and quite busy. so im just going to go ahead and tell a few stories from the past 2 months. hopefully i will remember more while typing, because i know ive forgotten alot.

1. looking for jobs suuuuuucks. i applied like a madman and got nothing. except once i did get a callback from a craigslist app. she said it was a group interview at a hotel downtown. so i thought that sounded interesting. i went and instead of the 15 people that were suppose to be competing against me, there were 4...huh.

so i sit in the front row, fifteen minutes early, hoping the other ten will show. instead, 2 of the 4 tell the person in charge that the had planned on printing their applications out at the hotel ups store and the printer was broke. so since they had no apps they just left without telling anyone. so the women in charge says, 'well we had this set up for a group, but since there are only two, we will just interview you one at a time. greg youll be first.' so she sent the other girl to the hallway to wait. i got grilled with a bunch of really dumb questions about who my contacts were and how i could help start a company. what? i thought i was applying for an administrative assistant position... (oh yeah, i didnt mention that there was a panel of 'judges' consisting of friends of the lady 'in charge.')

after i answer the silly questions i am sent to the hall to retrieve the other girl. i look up. i look down. no one. she had left her folder on a table. ...so i guess i won by default.

then the lady said she liked me and would call me, but she had this expression that said, 'im lying to you right now, i cant believe no one but you showed up.' it was funny. i wouldnt have worked for her even if she begged me.

2. i finally found a way to make money. i was summoned for jury duty. $12. i really enjoyed myself. first i took a shuttle to the courthouse. then i sat in a room that looked like a bus stop for 3 hours while i read steinbeck and talked to the two ladies next to me. then my number got called. i was filed into another busstop area with 26 other people. i recognized one of the girls, she dated an old high school friend. i didnt say anything because it didnt look like she remembered, and even if she did, i hate seeing people who havent seen me in 2 years because i inevitably have to discuss hairloss.

then we were very slowly escourted to the criminal courthouse and very slowly put into some sort of order unknown to us, and very slowly shuffled into the courtroom. as soon as we sit down we are told to rise for the honorable judge. then as soon as we sit down again he tells us to go to lunch. stupid.

the line at subway was epic. out the door for over an hour. i felt so bad for those minimum wage workers.

then we get back in and spend like 4 hours being asked questions. and being forced to listen to stupid answers to the questions. especially this one guy who wasnt all there. the question was 'have you been affiliated with any political campaigns in the last two years?' and this guy. this guy was overweight, thick glasses, greasy hair,and had on a fanny pack. his response to this question was something about how he made a belt for president kennedy, and how it didnt fit and he had to put an extra hole in it. and then he just randomly, in the middle of his rambling, said 'and goldplated fingernail clippers.' everyone laughed. it was too weird to properly explain.

then the question was asked, 'do you recognize anyone in this room?' i was under oath, so i stood up and said i did. they asked who. i said, well i dont know her name. they said can you point to her. so i pointed and said, the girl with the pink hair. she looked at me like a stranger of course. and everyone looked at me like i was insane. it was uber awkward and pointless.

then finally, the jury was picked. it was something like 10 girls and one dude, which seems biased. the trial was about some guy who stole $26,000 or so from the community colleges. he looked super creepy.

i was so glad i didnt get picked because i really didnt want the responsibility of deciding where that guy lives for the next 10-15.

3. me and kevin were excited. our boy dan was coming in town for a one night only reunion. we planned a night of bar game competition. darts, pool, shuffle board... but after darts (which dan won in the coolest way possible, see pic) we called sam, our old college buddy, and found out he was willing to hang. he is also a tough one to get face time with so we dropped the competition. dan wouldve won it all anyways, who are we kidding?

so we left to go meet sam at brennans. oh yea, meet sam. sam is a baller. he likes nice things and he likes to take care of his friends. he is tons of fun. but anyways, on the way there dan opens the van side door and jokingly yells at a guy on a bike 'gas guzzler!' or something silly like that at a red light. this yahoo freaks out and comes over to the van and starts yelling at us telling us we are pussies and using alot of expletives. dan and kevin lock their doors. and i proceed to get really pissed. this moron who is void of humor is touching my van and my friends just sat there. i mean come on, there are three of us!

as we drove away and left the biker in our dust, i stopped being pissy as i realized that kevin actually kept his cool. this made me happy that kevin was still happy because for the past year he has been wanting to fight anything that moves : )

so we make it to brennans (a wine/cigar bar in the central west end) and meet sam at his bmw. we proceed to have a fantastic night of socializing and merriment. during which time sam asked if we needed a job. i didnt take it too seriously, bc he has dangled this in front of me in the past, but told him i was interested.

4. two days later, sam calls and tells me to come in for an interview.

i dress up, go to u.s. fidelis, and prepare myself for a grueling interview. and then sam meets me at the lobby. apparently he is my interviewer! we just chat a little bit about the job and i fill out an app and he says, alright you got the job. it was the coolest thing ever.

so now i am in the presales dept at a car warranty provider. every day i get to see my good friend sam, which makes the day pretty easy. not to mention he has a guitar in his office which i play every lunch break. god is cool. i will tell more work details next blog...

also, i moved into my sister carries house because it cuts the commute in half. i am super excited. and they seem to be as well because of nights like tonight. i am babysitting whilst they go have a life.

i do miss the city. i do miss the outdoors. but i am quite happy with this season of life and am trying my best to enjoy this day and not think about all the potential the future holds.

first entry of 2009

2009-01-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

whoops...forgot about the blog. i havent had my own computer set up for 2+ weeks and ive been dealing with holiday madness. not to mention that nothing immensely noteworthy has come up. just your typical holiday fun. family gatherings, family drama, family fun. lots of food and presents.

long story short, i am back in st. louis and very happy about it. i am sick of living in my parents house and sick of being funemployed tho. i am ready to be a functioning member of society, which is a nice change for sure.

i am currently looking into nursing and fire fighting as career options. kelly thinks i would be a good teacher, and maybe that would be good too, but right now i am kind of leaning towards the fire fighting. it seems challenging, rewarding, and time worthy. also, i would have side time for other things like music. my only real concern for going in the ff direction is wondering if i would fit in at a firehouse. all tv shows and stuff show only frat guys as firemen. with all of the downtime, i am just wondering if i would be miserable trying to relate to them.

hopefully more to come later, happy new year.

selling my lovely lady Lucille

2008-12-06T17:09:00.000-08:00

I sold my car today. I tried last night. It was a long stupid ordeal, and i wrote about it after both showdowns with the imbeciles:

Tonight was brutal. I got five calls for my car, and decided to take the one from the ‘charity,’ because that sounded nice and trustworthy. Couldn’t have been more wrong. It was the shadiest experience I’ve had in years. First I call the charity three times from noon to three and they say they’ll call me back to send someone over. Finally he says he will send someone to look at the car at 5. I wait. I call. He strings me along. At 7ish this joker finally comes. He is in an old beat up BMW and is a greased up mechanic. He first wants a test run so I offer to drive. He gets in the driver seat, and drives it down the street and back with me. I say, “It needs repairs, but it runs impressively well.” He says, “What you say,” in a broken Spanglish manner. I sarcastically say, “It runs well,” like I am speaking to an old man (bare in mind I didn’t sleep the night before). He says, “Eh, what?” again. I can’t believe he actually didn’t just understand the sentence “It runs well.” “Nothing,” I say.

We get out and he looks under the hood. I tell him everything that is wrong on a written list, he points at things that I just told him and vaguely expresses that it needs to be fixed, never actually saying any car part or term. I agree with his mumbling impatiently.

Finally, he says he will give me $400. I say $800. He speaks gibberish until I am annoyed and I say all right $700 and I won’t go lower. He calls his boss. They talk and offer me $500, then $600. I refuse. He hands me the phone with his boss on the line, and the boss says $600? I say, “Sir, you know my price by now. I am sorry for wasting your time. Goodnight.”

Then the mechanic guy rambles about how he should get $20 for coming to look at the car…what?! No, I am done I tell him. He says, $650. I say $675 and that is it! He says okay. Yes! A deal.

Then he says something mumbled about my signing the papers and he will give me a $100 deposit to meet tomorrow for the rest of the money. I say I will sign paper, but not a legal document because then he would own the car. He acts like an idiot and agrees. Then he gives me $90. I tell him he just handed me $90. He says “no, no, that’s one hundred, we’re straight.” I count his bills like he is a five year old back at him. Very loudly and slowly I count them…20. 40. 60. 80. 90. We stare at each other blankly for like ten seconds. He says, no no, this hundred. I give it to him, and say what kind of charity is this. He says ‘charity?’ My eyes open wide and I ask, ‘who do you work for?’ He says, ‘only my boss. Me and my boss.’ I say what about the charity? He says oh this? And shows me the supposed charity entitled “Functional Social Solutions Inc. ” and says oh yes, I work for them. I shake my head. This is so shady. I should have known this was a scam from the name of the place.

He hands me the 100 and I get distracted. I sign a piece of paper and write something vague about how if we don’t meet by eleven tomorrow the deal is off. He asks for the keys. I say ‘Are you kidding me?’ He says, ‘Then give me the papers.’ I say ‘here is your money, goodnight.’ And he quickly says, oh no no no. Take the money. Let me call my boss. I take his money and say goodnight.

He was a stupid filthy scammer and hopefully won’t come back tomorrow and I will keep his filthy money.

To put salt on the wound, two people called after this encounter and offered to buy the car for $800 cash tonight and they were the first ones to call who spoke English. I had to refuse… feeling bound by my word to a scoundrel. Worse night in a while. I still can’t sleep now.

I realized late in the night that the stupid thing I wrote out meant absolutely nothing. It didn’t have the car’s name on it at all and wasn’t even full sentences. So I tried to get a hold of the other two buyers after Tom and Mom assured me that I was in no way legally bound. Sadly, neither of the two buyers had their phones on. That seemed shady as well.

Day Two

Well I did fall asleep, and woke up at 9 in the morning to prepare for selling my car. I was pretty resolute after wasting an entire day by being pushed around. Today I was going to be a businessman.

Mom helped me find the only other necessary paperwork aside from the Title, which is the Bill of Sale form. I went to the library and printed it out from the dmv site.

Then I got home and soon “Mike,” the “boss” from the “charity” called and said his guys were waiting outside…an hour after he told me they were almost there. I came out and it was the same dumb mechanic and then another guy, who also spoke broken English, but was very nice. After yesterday though, I was in no mood to feel vulnerable again, so I just got right to it.

I pulled out the Bill of Sale, which I had filled out before they arrived, and said all right you sign this first. The little mechanic stared at me confused. He said, “Oh yes, do you want to sign this?” and showed me some official looking paper that said something about tax exemption or write offs or something. I said, “Listen, last night was very shady and I don’t want to be involved with this charity anymore. Let’s just do this legally.” The mechanic stared confused, and then said “So you give us the title then?” I asked for the money. He gave me the right amount this time and I said, “Hey, you learned how to count last night huh?” His friend laughed. Him, not so much.

Then I said, “I have the title, you will sign it after you sign this.” He said, “no no no no. I don’t sign.” I said, “You are kidding me. Then forget it.” He said, “wait wait wait…I will call.” He calls Mike and speaks Spanish. Then he gets off the phone and says, “Okay I will sign FCC.” What?!

I say, “That doesn’t make any sense at all. I hate to bully you around but I will need a name and I need to see your license as well.” He looked like I just told the cops he was an illegal alien. Then his nice friend said, “You are okay, that’s okay. That’s right.” So the mechanic, not the other guy, pulled out his ID, which was most likely expired, but it looked like him and it said Pedro Munoz. He proceeded to sign the BOS as such. This is the only thing I could see that I could have been taken for. He could have forged the Title under a fake ID (It was Arizona). What would happen then, I wonder?

Anyways, I pulled out the title and read it one more time and had him sign it. Then I went to take off the license plates. The mechanic said, “no no no, we need those.” I said, “These are my plates, they are legally under my name, and I am taking them. You need to go to the DMV and get a temporary plate. I hate to bully you (I said that a few times throughout). The mechanic just said, “no no.”

I shook the nice guys hand and the mechanic just walked away mumbling something about me being a “mother fucker.” I walk in my apartment.

Five minutes later Mike calls and says, “Arthur, you have to give them the plates.” He was angry and loud. He said, “In the State of California you have to give over your plates.” I said, “Well, I’m not sure about that sir. In Missouri that just doesn’t happen.” He insisted and said they would give me a receipt and send the plates back to Missouri via the DMV or some BS. I said, “Well, I didn’t know about that, but I will look it up and call you right back.” He said, “Well hurry up now Arthur, my boys have been waiting long enough for this crap.”

I called mom for advice and she suggested calling a dealership. I got a hold of Ford and the lady said, “Oh you definitely give them your plates if you are selling them the car. Just to double check, I will connect you with Nancy so she can verify. I walk outside with the plates as I am on hold. I say I am sorry to them and hand them the plates. He puts on the back one and throws the other in the passenger seat.

They are heading to get in the car as I remember that I didn’t get a receipt. I turned and said, “Wait.” And Nancy got on the line. I said, “Hello Nancy, do you know my situation?” as the guys looked at me to say something to them. She said “Yes. You definitely do NOT give them your plates, whether you are at a dealer or privately selling. You keep those and exchange them in Missouri.”

My eyes widened. Wow that was close. Knowledge is power.

I thanked Nancy and walked to the passenger seat and took one plate. I said I was keeping them. And I looked at the plate on the car, hoping they didn’t just drive away before I got it off. I felt in my pockets hoping I had something. I pulled out a penny! Awesome. I bent down and started unscrewing the plate with the penny. Then ole Pedro hands me the phone with an irate Mike.

“Arthur?”
“Hey Mike.”
“Arthur?!”
…
“Arthur?”
“Still here Mike, what do you need?”
“Arthur? Hey! You can’t do this to me! You can’t do this after you’ve signed the title. How can we drive that car now?!”
“Sir. The legal way to do it is to get a temporary license from the DMV.”
“Arthur, I’ve been doing this for years! How are we supposed to drive that car around now? The DMV is closed!”
“Sir. You have been doing this illegally for years then. You should have…”
“What am I suppose to do now!”
“Sir, you should…”
“Huh, tell me what am I suppose to do now?”
“Sir. I’m telling you but you keep yelling. Can you stop?” (Very condescendingly)
“Yes. What?”
“Monday, the DMV opens again, you can…”
“Oh forget it! I hate the way you do business, you know that Arthur?”
“Well, to be perfectly honest sir, I LOATHE the way you do business.”
“What?”
“Loathe. Is that too big of a word for you sir?”
“I…you don’t even know what that means!”
“Alright.”

I hand the phone back, with the plates in my hand. I shake the nice guys hand, and he apologizes and agrees that I did the right thing. Then I sit and watch as my baby, my first love, my little lady Lucille drives away in the hands of evil, terrible men. A bittersweet moment for sure. She taught me one final lesson before we parted, and I will not soon forget her.

observations, sickness

2008-12-02T18:07:00.000-08:00

dom came in town again yesterday and we got little caesars and watched walle again. then zack and me both started sneezing and feeling crappy. ive been blowing my nose nonstop for the past 24 hours. sucky.

right now i am locked up in my room with a great cup of hot tea and the best fugi apple ever made. i am listening to miles davis and am about to read 'human universals.' but i didnt know what universals meant so i went to look it up and promptly got distracted.

kelly met annie lebowitz tonight. so thats cool.

also, i went to the observatory. i have been wanting to do this since i got here and finally dragged my butt up there. i really shouldve waited til i was feeling better so i couldve gone on the hiking trails, but i only have 12 days left here so time seems precious.
i really only went to the observatory bc i am a huge fan of 'rebel without a cause' and thats the climax scene locale. i really enjoyed looking at everything and relearning a bunch of astronomy facts and whatnots. i was surprised when i got to a timeline of the universe. they stated the bigbang theory as fact. no theory behind it. this has me really curious about carbon dating and whether or not the bbt could coexist with creationism. i am interested in thoughts if u wanna share. if not, that seems pretty bold of whomever owns the observatory to just throw that on an exhibit.

anyways, tomorrow i am going to try and set up interviews for chicago and will be going to dollar bowling night one last time. tonight i will probably make a schedule for my last days here to sell possessions, say goodbyes, prepare for the new season, and have fun!

good news

2008-11-25T22:26:00.000-08:00

well, things have made a bit of a positive turn over the past few days. i got a call late sunday night from shannon saying that i was to be on set at 6am monday. that was very exciting, and i left my house at 5 in the morning. it was so cold and i wasnt expecting it to be. nor was i expecting to be doing an outdoors scene in my 'office' attire. as anyone who has spent time with me in cold weather knows, i shiver pretty badly, and i was shivering so much i honestly couldnt hold my coffee cup. it was embarrassing having such a hard time controlling my own body. i had to set my cup down for a while because i was spilling it!
then right after we got breakfast they directed us outside. and again, we just started walking back and forth to the direction of background action and cut. it was fun talking to some of the other extras. one guy was telling me that i was really lucky to have gotten work that day bc it was only union actors on set! then sarah (shannons friend who got me on set) showed me the call sheet with my name on it. it doesnt really matter much, i will still be a blur behind the actual actors, but it was fun to know. i was paid 130 bones for 3 hours of looking pretty. then they said thats all! so at 9 am i was done working and i went to the community college and played piano.

tonight was also a nice change, it rained! me and zack went for a walk while it was just drizzling and then it started pouring so we ran home. fun times.

in other good news, lindsey is out of the hospital and doing good.

also, kyle and i are going to record some more music tomorrow.

and i watched the blues game tonight on vs. and they freakin won.

oh sake bombs.

2008-11-23T17:25:00.001-08:00

For zacks bday we went to this place Tokyo delves sushi, which was complete madness. The outside was not unlike a club with a long line and big bouncers with a list. When you walked through the door you were greeted by a line of waiters and asian bartenders screaming ‘heeeeeeyyyy!!!’ This reminded me of college potluck nights when we greeted people very similarly. Everybody gets in and you immediately have a sake bomb. Everyone would fill up their beer mugs under the mini wooden kegs, then put their chopsticks on their glass. Then we’d put a shot of sake on top and the waiter would yell “SAKE!” and we yelled back to him, “BOMB!” Three times or so and then he would slam the table and our drinks became one big mess of alcohol. Then we chugged. I hadn’t eaten all day under the impression this was a sushi night I was getting myself into. After two bombs I was feeling very light.
Before I knew it they were playing ‘my humps’ and we were up on their chairs get-getting love drunk.
After 6 sake bombs and lots of sushi and chair dancing, we got a very sobering bill. $867 for 15 people! Ouch. So we paid and got out of there quickly.

LA driving, my fonzi moment, and trials

2008-11-21T21:28:00.000-08:00

funny 'you had to be there' story...

me dan and zack were driving and some guy who mustve thought we had wronged him in some way on the road pulled up next to us screaming, 'you f*#king jerk!' we looked around confused and realized he was looking at us. i started laughing because we were clearly not doing anything wrong, so dan slowed down and me and zack started hanging out the windows waving our fists, then when he was next to us again zack yelled 'HEY! HEY...YOU WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!!!' the guy looked so confused and just drove on. probably the quickest defused situation ever.

today i became incredibly scared about my living space. while i was playing guitar all the lights in my room and the room and bathroom next to mine went off. i looked at the circuit box, which is on the wall connected to my room, and i could see sparks of light behind the breakers...yikes. for hours i didnt have lights, and then in mild anger i hit the wall next to the breaker. it sparked inside and my lights came back on. i am pretty much the modern day fonze, bc i can hit the dash of my car and the inside lights pop back on too. crazy. and mom, dont worry about my safety please, ill be fine. we will call the landlord tomorrow.

in further unfortunate news:
kyles wife has been in the hospital for at least 4 days! if you think of it please throw up a prayer for her.

i was suppose to get another tv part, but it fell through. that sucks.

kelly had her credit card hacked into online at REI. dont buy from there online, and please be careful with your identity! hopefully everything will be sorted out there too.

amongst the fires and setbacks, life is treating me very well for some reason. i am happy and healthy and enjoying some eggnog. i have a feeling things are going to start looking up for everyone.

recording, and chicago planning, and camping pics

2008-11-15T01:34:00.000-08:00

well, here are some pictures from my camping trip from oh so long ago. one is of kyle crawling out of the bramble patch, one is from me reenacting my hole in one, and one is just a cool shot i took of the ski lift. if you have facebook, i made an album, check it.

well, i didnt get on the screen in the office. they cut the scene i thought id show up in. and on the plane you could see the kid i was sitting next to! however, on the mentalist i did walk behind the main characters, and am blurry as they walk down the aisle in the casino. so thats fun.

i have logged 8 hours of recording time with kyle and almost have 3 songs worth of stuff down that now needs editing. once i get it, i will post it on a myspace.

i put an ad out for people interested in a band in chicago and have only gotten one reply so far from a 43 year old. i guess i shouldve clarified an age limit. ive also begun looking for a place on my own in chitown. this is a first. i feel dumb because i dont know where to start, but i am learning day by day. also, i am looking into getting a new winter coat for the first time since high school probably. woohoo!

um...in further cali news, i dont think i mentioned that we had dom, an old high school buddy, stay the night a few weeks ago. reunions are always great fun. also, there have been alot of 'firestorms' out here lately and that just seems crazy to me. these things are starting late in the day and going all night. just like a storm. very apocalyptic.

Shows

2008-11-10T17:22:00.000-08:00

The two TV shows that I was an extra on are airing this week. Wanted to tell you about them in case you have an opportunity to tune in...

Tuesday, 11/11, Channel 4, CBS: The Mentalist
In a scene outside where they are just getting to the casino. Greg is walking in the background.
In a scene one character is at a blackjack table, Greg is in the background.
In another scene, one character goes down an escalator and then to some people at one of those "claw" machines (where you put in coins, and you can move the claw to pick up something) - Greg walks either in front or behind him.

Thursday, 11/13, Channel 5, NBC, 8-8:30 p.m.: The Office
In a scene where the Boss is sitting talking on an airplane, Greg is sitting behind him on the other side of the plane, in the first rows of the economy class.
In another scene, one of the characters is in a booth at the airport; Greg walks quickly from one wall to another.

moving and creating in obama nation

2008-11-08T03:36:00.000-08:00

well things are moving right along. i haven't had much to blog lately, but i figured id give a little bit of an update.

lately most of my days have been planning how i am going to move back to the midwest. i was going to drive back but i took my car, lovely lucille, to a mechanic and he said she needs at least $1000 worth of repairs...so i spent the rest of the day cleaning so i can sell it. i got pretty melancholy as i finished up, looking at her like it was the first day i got her, making a montage in my head of all the fun times we've had together. all the road trips, camping trips, concerts, events, dates, and lazy drives around town. its been such an integral part of my life and now i am ditching it.

i am also cleaning my room and deciding what i can throw away, what i can sell, and what i need to u.p.s. home. i considered u hauling, but that is like over $1000 also.

i did get some great news from kyle also. he scheduled me in for next Tuesday to start recording some of my songs. this makes me a happy camper, although he said he may not have time to do all the songs i wanted to do. so is life. i have been staying creative though. i thought up a new song idea, and wrote a short story about being a valet the other night. it always feels so good to create something that doesn't completely suck. it makes me feel like I'm not wasting my time.

speaking of creating...Zack and I were a bit bored on Halloween so we made a mock scary movie with my camera. we acted like the lights in our house kept turning themselves on. it was really funny to us, probably not so much to anyone else, but i am going to try and get it on you tube someday for you all. man, i wish i was tech savvy. i want to show more of my life than just words! ugh.

oh well, I'm tired so I'm ending this. i still can't believe obama is president. i am very interested in seeing how this country progresses or regresses over the next few months and years. i have to say, i was ambivalent before the election, but now i can't help but feel a certain happiness that obama got it. everyone seemed so happy in Chicago and it just feels like a new era, a fresh chance to renew our country. i sadly didn't get my ballot in time and wasn't able to vote, or get free Starbucks. oh well, i would've voted for obama anyway.

i cant believe how quickly Christmas is approaching. i am getting very excited about the prospect of seeing my girlfriend and my nephew Evan and my moms and dads and my siblings and friends! oh joy.

airport misadventures, running out of gas, and turning 24

2008-10-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

By the beard of Jupiter, gird your loins…I am in story telling mode.

On what was to be my last day in Chicago Kelly and I didn’t leave the dorm room until it was time to head to the airport. We had a whole day planned out, but decided to just stay in. Then the time came to depart for L.A. and we slowly got my bags together and headed for the El.
Kelly had jokingly wished out loud that I would miss my flight and have to stay in Chicago.
And, well, her wishes came true.
Half way to the airport the El stopped. Overhead we heard something about a ‘medical situation’ and a ‘slight delay.’ We waited for 15 minutes and they finally said that we could wait or we could get on a bus to go around. So the entire car of people got out of the train and walked to the nearest bus stop. Weird. It felt like a movie. While we were there a CTA lady said that someone had jumped onto the tracks at Montrose. I guess the medical situation was CTA cleaning up the tracks.

So we are sitting at this bus stop realizing that if we didn’t get a cab or a miracle I would actually miss my flight. We began frantically calling. The airport to see if my flight was delayed, cab companies to see how long it would take. Then three cabs pull up and both of us race towards them waving like crazy people. As we passed each cab we realized that all three were packed with people. Then we looked back and saw that the bus was about to pull away! All those people were loaded on and the doors were closing so we started running back that way. We both started banging on the side of the bus until it stopped and let us in. The bus driver wasn’t pleased with us.

Then 5 minutes later we ask him what stop we should get off at. He tells us to get off at the next stop which was about 15 minutes away from where we were actually suppose to get off (past Montrose, so we could get back on the El and get to the airport!) So the stupid bus driver let us off and we quickly realized he didn’t understand our question as we watched the bus pull away. For some reason I mockingly started singing the ‘Hail to the bus driver’ song in my head.
Then I saw a cab just hanging out. Again, we ran. We got in the cab, thankful and hopeful. He started to drive and I stupidly said, ‘Do you take debit?’ He stopped the car and said no. We promptly exited the cab, knowing now I would definitely not make my flight, because it was lifting off in half an hour.
So, we got on another bus. Drove to the El. Took the El to the airport, and arrived 5 minutes after my plane had taken off.
So we walked into the empty airport with smiles on our faces. At this point we were tired of racing and we were just happy that we would have another night together.
Janice K. at the United counter was shockingly accommodating and waved the rescheduling fee, and even gave me my ticket for the next day so I wouldn’t have to wait in line.
So we went back and had pizza and watched the office again. Good times.

Then on Friday I arrived complication free to my flight. But the adventure was not quite over.
It started in the plane. I asked the first stewardess if there was a charge for alcoholic beverages (knowing full well they had just told us it was 6 bucks). She impatiently told me there was, and so I took a Coke. Then the second steward passed and he seemed friendly (as opposed to the impatient chick) so I shot him a smile and thought nothing of it. Ten minutes later he comes to my seat and says, ‘Hey, do you drink?’ I said, ‘Yeah. Jack.’ He said, ‘Hold on.’ Then he came back with three travel bottles of Jack and said, ‘Because you smiled at me,’ and walked away. I was elated. All I wanted was a free drink of jack on this, the day before my birthday, and I got it.
He came back later while I was trying to watch the office and he sat down. I am pretty sure he was gay because he was way too nice. Then I started talking about how tough a long distance relationship with my girlfriend was, and he straightened up a bit. But we still had a great talk about our lives, and anytime he had a break he would come hang out with me. And when I told him it was almost my birthday he went and got me a bottle of wine wrapped in a towel! Thank you Fred!
Then I started slurring my words, because I hadn’t eaten much that day and had downed all three bottles. Fred felt bad and got me a can of chips. But the damage was done.

I’ll tell you what. Landing in a plane while slightly inebriated is an exhilarating experience. I felt so relaxed. Not to mention, seeing L.A. from a plane at night is so beautiful. It is like the whole city is a big front yard in December with a Christmas light display.

Then I got off the plane and called Kelly to tell her my story and to tell her I loved her (I drink to bring out my honesty : ) She worried about me getting more gifts from gay guys (the Chuck Palahnuik necklace) and driving home tipsy, but was happy nonetheless to hear from me. By the time I got to Dan’s car I was sobered up (I brought my roommates car home because he had just left for Baltimore the day before). I had to get a shuttle to take me to his car. I got in and started blasting my tunes. I got on the highway and the gas pedal ceased giving the car power! I had no gas. So I put on the flashers and held out my middle finger while people angrily sped by me inching up the right lane. A couple cars had to skid to avoid me, which scared me quite a bit. But luckily there was an exit in sight. Somehow the car made it to the exit and then rolled down the hill. I didn’t stop at the light. I just made the right turn and luck of all luck, there sat a gas station. It was now officially my birthday and this was God’s gift to me. The car literally stopped rolling half way in the street and half way in the gas station. I took a picture on my phone and will try to get that up.

So I arrived home to two gifts on my bed from mom and an impeccably clean house thanks to zack. On my bday night he and I went bowling. It was great fun. We put 5 bucks on each game. He won the first I won the second with a 137 (probably my best score ever) and he won the third by 2 effing pins. Then when we got home he made another bet about Austin powers and I won, so we were even. Then we watched coldplay on snl, which was a bit disappointing, and called it a night. And now, I am 24…

my kind of town

2008-10-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

well here i am in chicago. it is the only night ive really had some me time, some down time, because kelly has to finish making a pattern that's due tomorrow. it has been the best week i can remember in a long time and i can already feel the pangs of missing her like mad that will sting when i am back in los angeles. however, the melancholy is overrun by the current incredible high i have being with her right now.
speaking of being with her...i almost wasnt with her at all. thursday morning i woke up on time. i had my bags packed and i was ready to go at 615. 15 minutes earlier than i told my ride i wanted to leave. so i went to his room and asked if he was ready. he wasnt even awake. so i waited. and waited. at 645 he slugged downstairs. then we got stuck in traffic. bad traffic. and my ride doesnt drive like me. he didnt look for faster lanes or speed in the moments of open road. he just took his time. then i got in the airport at 740. my plane was leaving at 820. there was a 45 minute cutoff for getting your ticket! i was screwed. not to mention there was a huge line that wrapped around three times. i knew i had to act fast. i kindly and as pathetically as i could muster asked a lady one loop closer to the front if i could butt. she said there was a window for late people. hope!!!! i cut through all three loops, receiving many an evil look of early morning travelers. told the lady i was 5 minutes past the cut off. she shook her head in disdain and said, 'sorry. you missed your flight.' i whimpered in agony. i pleaded. she said it was too late. i scrunched my face in sadness. she called someone. she handed me my ticket and said, ' you won't make it.' i ran to security. another line. i couldnt even see the end of it so i just decided to be an asshole. unflinchingly, i stepped right into the front of the line. many looks, but surprisingly only one comment. the lady directly behind me said, 'um...excuse me, i am next.' and i said, 'of course you are.' and let her go. then i told one of the security guys i had ten minutes and he let me get to the bins. i put my shoes and crap in and put them back on faster than superman in a phonebooth. then i sprinted as fast as my little bones would take me (keep in mind i had just ran 6 miles the day before for the first time and was very sore). as i neared my gate i literally saw the door begin to close so i screamed 'WAAAAAAAAIIIIIIITTTTTT!!!!!' the door froze, and then reopened. the greatest sight. just the greatest. receiving my final look of annoyance i handed over my ticket and i was on the plane to watch a bad chick flick and drink oj.
i got in early and kelly was still in class. so i took the El half way and then she took it half way and we met. it was easily the best hug i've ever experienced in my entire life. i am not exaggerating either. it was so great to see her and to be able to hold her. whew! it makes me happy just thinking about that moment. i could have turned back around and gone back to LA right there.
we went back to her dorm and dropped off my stuff and went to her friend kate's pad to watch the office and eat pizza (something we did with kate last year, who was kelly's former sweetmate) that was fun, met some cool people, played some pool, laughed and left.
friday we slept in to a ridiculous hour and then went shopping. didnt buy much, but it was fun just walking through the city with her. she introduced me to the caramel apple cider at starbucks. i have never liked cider but that...that is a different beast right there. go. now. try it.
saturday kelly woke early and basically had a work day setting up and working at the 'fall spook fest.' had a chance to meet the people kelly is always talking about. we painted a pumpkin like a cupcake, we bounced in an inflatable boxing ring, we played bean bags and lost terribly, we ate corn on the cob, and we danced like there was no tomorrow. we went out and had chinese food.
sunday i had the most romantic meal of my 23 years. if you are ever in chicago with your love, go to gejas. it is a little hobbit house type place that serves fondu. while we were waiting there was guitar music playing through the speakers, and when we were seated we found out that it was not a recording! the guitar player could have leaned over and smacked me with his guitar he was so close to our table. i spilt chocolate on my tie. we walked through lincoln park, really made me appreciate chicago. we also had pasta earlier that day at a cute place.
monday was rainy. i loved it! while kelly went to class i just walked downtown in the rain. it was perfect. i also played piano at the chicago library. then we went to an exhibit that showcased kerouac's 'on the road' scroll. very freaking cool.
today we slept in again and it was great. kelly skipped her classes. then she was on duty for a while. then we went to one of her class labs and worked on this pattern. it was really fun watching her do her thing. she is an impressively focused individual when she gets into it. love it.
tonight i am hoping to play some ping pong and eat some ben and jerrys. tomorrow we will probably go to a bunch of those photobooth places that do those western photos. and maybe even a picnic on the beach if it warms a bit. (and maybe visit jeff and jolene, but probably wont have time for that.)

sidecash, headshots, music

2008-10-13T17:52:00.000-07:00

3 days until i fly to chicago to see kelly! thats my biggest news.

other than that, i have an interview at starbucks tomorrow. this weekend i made some sidecash moving some display cases for a jewelry store (mic hooked me up with that). i spent 3 hours in a moving truck with a stranger. that was interesting. he was in a band and told me about how the industry raped them (financially). we broke some of the glass and the girl was not pleased...but she didnt give us any rope or padding so whacha gonna do? also, this weekend, my friend shannon (the one getting me the extra parts) needed someone to practice taking headshots on. so i was her muse and it was very fun. the pics are on facebook if you have it.

in news about musicians i know. dan has an awesome and fun song on his myspace called 'take my heart away' that i would suggest you check at myspace.com/brudermusic
also, kevin's band 'dear vincent' opened for hayden a few weeks ago, thats pretty awesome. and matt harris' band won the freaking battle of the bands at busch stadium! he got to throw the first pitch at a game. thats also awesome.

today i snuck into a piano lab and was able to play for the first time in many months. it was so satisfying and i forgot how much i enjoy it. its a good day.

jokes, spiritual matters, recycling

2008-10-05T16:46:00.001-07:00

i have a couple of quick notes
first off, i want to document my homemade jokes and i thought i'd share them. hopefully i havent already said these...
Q.what do you call a greek sandwich that is relieving itself?
A. a european!

Q.what is an old person's favorite ice cream brand?
A.ben and geriatrics

wait, it gets better
Q. what is a cheerleader's favorite fruit?
A. pom pomegranates!

wow. those were so cheesy i think i am going to just stop there. now to move on to more important matters. i have been reading this book called 'the question of god' by dr. armand m. nicholi jr. and it has just been such a booster of faith energy. it is meant to be a biased juxtaposition of freud and c.s. lewis quotes on god, love, sex, and life. however, if i was a freud advocate i would probably be annoyed by it. maybe it is just my tendency to agree more with the lewis quotes, but this book has just made it feel even more reasonable to put my stock in belief rather than unbelief. one thing i have been convicted about throughout my reading has been how people around those who experience conversions (whether of the mind, heart, or both) report changes in behavior from more inner to outer. i always considered it a positive thing that i am introspective...which i still believe is crucial...but i am realizing that at some point i am just starting to waste my time. i need to be practicing what i believe. i dont really know how to go about doing that more than i am, but i feel like if there was a poll taken on how selfish greg is it would not be pretty. part of me knows that i am misconceived and doesnt care, but part of me realizes a great lacking in my selflessness. this isnt really something i want input on, i am just typing and want to remember that i thought this.

another thought on God that ive had lately...
i had a convo with a girl last night at a party we were having and she had heard i was thinking about leaving l.a. at christmas. She seemed very concerned for me and began asking me what God was leading me to do. and it really tripped me up because i feel like such a faith amateur. i realized last night that while i constantly feel a divine protection over me (like a shield always keeping me safe and healthy and never worrying about money) i dont often get that direction or whisper from God that most spiritual people in my life tend to get. um...i guess i will have to pray about it!

finally, i tried to recycle all of the bottles from last night, thinking id make a fortune. it was so annoying! the recycle machine wouldnt accept certain bottles so i only was able to make money off of like a third of the bottles! guinness recycled well, i made like three bucks. i guess i have zack to thank for that.

Fake casino night...all day

2008-10-01T17:32:00.000-07:00

I decided I am going to wait until tomorrow to call enterprise. They havent called yet, so that’s not a good sign. But I have stayed busy. I got another extra job working on the set of a new show called the mentalist on cbs Tuesday nights. I was at a casino for 14 hours! Hah! It was crazy. I arrived at about 645 and met this guy named grant. We couldn’t find the meeting point so we just took some food from the actor/crew table. Grant was a hand double for a girl, so his nails were really long and shiny. It was weird. We eventually found everybody and we got our vouchers and wardrobe gave me a jacket to wear. Then we pretty much went straight to work. For the first three hours or so I was stuck with some pretty lame people like this asian guy who over-pantomimed the whole time the camera was rolling, and this old guy in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. He tripped over a wire during filming and wiped out. It was funny, but annoying to be with this motley crew. So after that initial scene I found some old ladies. Old ladies are the best to hang out with on set. They are always nice and interesting…unless they think they are an actress or something, then they are annoying too. But I found this lady who was very oprah-esk and she kept me company.
I also got a chance to meet shannon’s friend…Robin freaking Tunney! Some of you may not know but a movie that was a big influence in my childhood was empire records. A low budget flick about a record store. It was like a lesson in how to be cool back then. Lucas with his witty remarks, Joe with his angry drumming to ‘if you want blood’ by acdc, that one guy who had a crush on liv tyler, renee zellwiger in her mini skirt, warren saying eff the man, and of course deb. Deb with her shaved head. Well, I met Deb. She was just like she was back then only with hair. She is very down to earth and fun and over the course of the day I got to shoot the breeze with her a few times on set.
Other fun times on set: 1. learning black jack lessons from a Vegas dealer while playing with mock chips. 2. sneaking away from the lowly extras with Shannon and meeting directors and actors and getting the ‘good’ food. 3. Remembering that the annoying asian guy was the same guy I was making fun of in my head on the set of the office because he was wearing a black see through shirt (he looked like he should’ve been in a gay bar, not a Canadian airport). 4. pizza at the end of the night.
So basically I got paid to hang out with my friend Shannon all day, see her actor boyfriend, meet influences of my life, play cards, see beautiful people all day (scantily clad, I might add), eat free food, and pantomime with an oprah look alike. It just doesn’t get any better!
Tonight is a surprise party for my roomie Bryson. Let’s hope he doesn’t secretly read my blog!
Me and zack played 4 sets of tennis the other night and I am incredibly sore from that… and from standing and walking all day at the casino.
I am actually gonna stop blogging now so I can go for a run before the party. Still haven’t gotten faster than a 25 minute 5k.
Life is good.
Happy October!

offices and the office

2008-09-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

life is so good when youre treated like you should be.- m. ward

things are looking good. i actually did get a chance to be an extra on monday! i called one of my friends (shannon)because central casting said there was a need for extras on the set of the office. she works on that set, so i asked her if she could hook a brother up. within the hour i got a call from the casting director! amazing huh? i got a call time, wardrobe instructions and directions. then monday i went to an airport set called 'air hollywood' and pretended i was in a canadian airport all day. i was literally one seat behind steve carrell as he was joking about being in first class with oscar and andy. i had to bite my lip anytime andy talked, he is freaking hilarious. so anyways, i may or may not be in the background of the office. i dont want to get my hopes up (as i did with the soccer movie) but definitely watch out for me when they go on a business trip...it may be episode 9.

speaking of offices, when i turned in my management app. for the sporting goods store i talked to the manager and i just did a terrible job. i was way to honest about my musical aspirations and why i was seeking the job. but it was a great practice interview for today. because today i had an interview with enterprise leasing! it is a bonafide adult job! and i must say i think it went really well. i was honest, but not overly candid, and i think i did well to toe the line between cocky and self-deprecating answers to the standard strength and weakness questions. he asked me at one point what three words my best friend would use to describe me and for one of them i used your word kevin (from the board game night, remember>?) and said 'pleasure.' he really enjoyed the honesty of that one, and i tried to make it sound positive by saying i wanted to really enjoy life. but i had a tough time with the other ones. i just want to ask people that question now and find out what they would really say... that's interesting to me too, i actually enjoyed the interview. i had fun! how wierd, huh? i would be pumped if i got this job and would probably stick with it while still doing music on the side.

if i dont get this job though, i will be just fine and will probably pursue gap and then starbucks. either way, i am happy with life and i find it kind of cool that i am not stressed in anyway shape or form in what seems to be a time of chaos in our economy, even though i am probably considered poor. i am enjoying the challenges God puts before me, i just hope i can stay steadfast in this positive mindset.

finally, i went on a bit of a cleaning strike at my place bc i had this feeling i was the only one doing dishes and trash duty. so i just let things pile up, as sort of a social experiment, to see who would break first. so a couple days ago i walked into the apt. (after being at the office all day) and thought that we had been visited by a holy apparition because the place was sparkling. it wasnt just clean, it was CLEAN. i thought someone would just take out the garbage once, or maybe load the dishwasher. i thought to myself...ive been gone all day, who couldve done this miraculous deed? it was zack! apparently he is picking up his game. he cleaned his entire room, porch area, and the whole living area. what a stud. he made my day.

im gonna go eat some chinese food, peace!

wedding, running, desk buying, still trying

2008-09-19T12:33:00.001-07:00

Well I am back and I’m gonna try to keep updating again.

I had a really nice day of things going my way and it made me optimistic once more. I made myself eggs and cheese, with some cinnamon toast. I handed in three applications in my nicest attire to gap, old navy, and starbucks. I also picked up an application tonight as I was buying tennis balls at the sporting goods store for a management position. Then i got a parking spot right in front of the house!

I joined this thing called central casting and if I get lucky I could do some background work on t.v. shows…at this point, I am not getting my hopes up for anything though. I am putting forth effort and if something happens in any area of life I will be happy.

I have been perfecting my songs as I wait for kyle to be available to record them.

I bought a desk off craigslist for 20 bucks. She was selling it for 30, but I talked her down, it always feels nice to get a deal. I can probably resell this later and make some money, although it’s so nice I don’t want to.

What else has happened?… Kyle (the guy I replaced) had his wedding. He created all of the music for it, and it was beautiful. I would put a track on here if I knew how, sorry guys. What’s more sad, I still can’t get pictures up bc dans battery is broke, my cord is broke, and kyle’s whole camera is broke… anyways, we all danced, ate, and socialized. Good times.

i made a deal with zack that i would give him my garage parking space during the month i was entitled to have it if he paid me 50 bucks. i thought this was a great deal until i got a parking ticket for 40 bucks last week. i didnt put into account when i made the deal that they clean the streets twice a week. so i constantly have to move my car. ugh.

Oh yeah, I have been running to ward off the sneaking feeling of laziness. I have gotten up to 3 miles in 25 minutes, which Jessie tells me is a decent speed. I also discovered a library on the run and got a card. Naturally, I’ve been borrowing and renting now.

Lately, I watched a documentary called grizzly man. It is pretty fascinating. It is almost more interesting to watch the man’s character development than the bears he is living with. I also borrowed ‘growing up catholic’ bc that is what Kelly is reading. I am actually juggling that, survivor, screwtape letters (again), and a book on islam.

Me, zack and mike (mic) went out and played tennis in the city. That was fun to be with the boys again. We may play more if we find the time.

I miss kelly like crazy. We have been discussing a very possible meeting in chicago, which makes life exciting, just to imagine that happening. i might go up there for halloween. i want to dress up like chaplin, but we are also talking about a possible couple costume. we'll see.

temporary blog

2008-08-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

i am going on a blog hiatus. dont check back for a while.

hole in one, beautiful mountains, ramble patches

2008-08-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

this weekend was grand. i escaped thinking about life for 3 days by going camping with the roommates. we went into the mountains about 2 hours from l.a. friday, me bryson and kyle went and set up camp and walked around the mountainside. there was an abandoned skilift intermingled with another frisbee golf course (yeah, i think kyle may have known that when picking a campsite). there was also a government test facility that looked mighty creepy. we made grilled cheese. we tried to hang out with some college kids down the way (who were making alot of noise) but they were incredibly lame and unaccomidating. so we just went to bed early.
the next day we woke up with the sun and brought bryson to the lake so he could go fishing. sadly, he didnt catch anything (nor did anyone we saw). so me and kyle went and climbed up a cliff to occupy ourselves. kyle ripped his shorts on the way up, the beginning of his misfortune. it was funny.
then we went back to camp and met up with zack and bouncer dan. they were really happy to be off work so that brought a new energy to the crew. we all ate and went to the frisbee golf course. it was so beautiful. it was basically just a 2 hour excuse to take a walk through the mountainside. during this time i did something not many people can say they have done in their lifetime. i shot a hole in one! the other guys have a deal that the first person to hit a hole in one gets 100 bucks from the other guys, because they thought it would never happen. sadly, i didnt make that deal, because i usually dont even get close to the hole. but 280 feet later, i am the happiest camper on the course. i ran all over the place as all five of us screamed and jumped and celebrated. bouncer dan even lifted me off the ground and zack was throwing dirt like confetti. i didnt get hundreds of dollars, but i did get a great memory.

however, the course had bitter plans as well as jubilant ones. i threw my only frisbee into a ramble, or a bryer, or whatever the term is for a bunch of very thick thornbushes. i looked for it, couldnt find it. i stepped out but dan and kyle, being the gentlemen they are both went in looking for my disc. then in a moment of utter hilarity and dispair, both dan and kyle lost their balance. dan just scrapped himself up, but kyle...kyle fell hard. he tumbled twice and landed on his back, stuck in the thorns, yelling "greg! i cant move! help me! help me! greg!" i was right there so i jumped in and pulled him to his feet. zack laughed the whole time. i was really worried for kyle, his legs and arms looked like jim cavezel from passion of the christ. but then kyle started blaming it on me and so i began laughing at him, because he was being a bit of a baby. then the mountain smiled on me again and i ended up finding 3 discs.

at the bottom of the skilift, but not the mountain there was a beautiful view of a city and there was a tiny sign surrounded by rocks. so we had a rock throwing contest. that was intensely fun, lots of smack talk, lots of rock throwing. i even won one of the tournaments.

then at night we had an amazing shishkabob dinner, inspired by kyle. it was wonderful. steak, chicken, sausage, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms. the only thing missing was pineapple. but im not complaining. then me and zack played some music by the fire. then there was alot of talking around the fire. i felt very honored to be in the presence of 4 guys who really cared about their faith and had such strong opinions about their views. it was cool to talk for a while. but after a few hours my brain wanted to play music and be quiet, but they just talked and talked! so i went for a walk and talked to God instead and thanked him for my awesome life. i then tried to call kelly but i had no reception so i went back and fell asleep.

britney spears and bear fights

2008-08-21T19:03:00.001-07:00

this is good. a night worthy of a blog (in my own eyes anyway). i dont have pics for a while because my camera cord is broken. but you all have good imaginations so im sure youll be fine.

tuesday i woke up to kelly calling me at her lunch break. i was groggy and complaining that i didnt have anything to do. she reprimanded me a bit and said, um you are in l.a.! you better do something! so i got off the couch and went out. i went to a bunch of thrift stores looking for weights for zack and a russian hat for kelly. i found nothing. but i did get to drive around alot. thats always nice. then i stopped at a little coffee shop called amsterdam. i looked at the l.a. times magazine for things to do.

then i noticed that they had an open mic that night, so i went home and got zack to come along. it was worlds nicer than the bar scene. about 20 or so people and all were very cool and supportive. i did my standard britney spears, hit me baby one more time, cover. i camped it up beforehand and said, "this song got me through alot of difficult times." and i shut my eyes mocking emotional intensity. no one got it until i sang the chorus, then they all laughed and said to themselves, ohhhhh he's being silly. then i played one of mine, and people seemed geniunely interested. zack also rocked the stage with a couple of his originals. it was encouraging and fun.

then we went to a church that was down the street and it was pretty cool. we both agreed that their ideals and theology were on par with ours, but i got a pretentious vibe from the congregation. nevertheless, i plan on attending this church for a while.

i am filling out my apartment form today and it makes me wish i had a job so i dont have to lie about it. im sending apps to coffee shops now.

also, i am going camping this weekend. i think its a bit of a last hurrah for kyle before he gets married (the roommate i am replacing). should be tons of fun and full of bear fights!

life is lovely

2008-08-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

to quote the famous ron burgundy, "I'm in love, and i dont care who knows it!"
i dont know why being 2000 miles away made me realize, but after putting up a bit of a fight to keep me and kelly a couple i just saw so clearly that i really love that girl! she is, without a doubt in my mind, completely worth the fight and the pain of distance.
so for the first time i told her long distance and it just felt like a weight off my back. it was just so nice to express it to her. i have been pretty excited about it and i dont know if this will embarrass her, but i just wanted to share that with everybody i know.

in other news, there isnt much other news. ive been watching way too much olympics. what can i say, michael phelps is a machine and i am entertained by sports such as the trampoline. ive also played more frisbee golf and somehow am kind of enjoying it now. i started running because zack never wants to work out and i need to lose energy somehow.

still no job. yes, still looking, thank you very much.

went to two more open mics. very annoying indeed. i hate the bar scene, it is depressing, no one cares about your music. i need to find coffee shop open mics where even if they hate me, they will still care about music. open mics are just an excuse for unfunny people to do standup. all they talk about is queefing, how jews are rich, asians talk funny, and how different black people are from white people. we get it people. ugh.
on the positive side, the sound guy said me and zack could pretty much have a set whenever we were ready to play one, although we wont really get paid. but still, pretty cool that we can play and invite people to it.

thats about it for now, sorry about the comment debacle, i now will say feel free to never comment ever again. i didnt realize everyone else looked at blogging so differently than me. i was annoyed for a while, but im over it. i probably will only blog now when something truly terrific or horrific happens, or if ive got a pic. todays pics are of me talking to kelly on my backporch and zack at frisbee golf. also a pic from when the bag busted open on zacks steps. hilarious. i will also put a pic on last weeks post.

The Classic Pig'n Whistle Night

2008-08-07T01:37:00.000-07:00

well, my first bit of new happenings is that me and zack began an intensive
workout program to get in shape for halloween when we will be dudes
from that 300 movie. whether or not we will do this program for more
than a week is up in the air, but we are both struggling to walk up the
stairs we are so sore. also, i am going to send my resume to this friend
of zacks who says there might be an opening at a job where i would be paid
15 an hour to find errors in movies. i think i might take it until i find
something music related.

tonight i did what i said. i went to my first open mic at a place called the
pig'n whistle. it was such a beautiful thing. i love committing to something
because if i hadnt told kelly i would do an open mic this week i probably
wouldve wimped out. but instead i sat through 3 hours of pretty bad music
and comedy (with the exception of one comedian and one chick songwriter)
just so i could perform 2 songs. it was such a memorable first night.

the first cool thing that happened was zack got "butterflies" when that chick
sang her song. and when she got up to leave i said "go after her dude" and
without hesitation he jumped up and walked out the door. at least 5 minutes
later he came back all nervous like. he got her myspace, which is kind of like the
modern day digits.

so yeah, we waited for our turns to play. every comedian was pretty stupid.
and when nobody laughed (which is just the most painful thing to witness
in the entire world) every comedian would say "oh we've got a sensitive crowd"
or "oh weve got a religious crowd" and that annoyed me so much because
they were ragging on our sense of humor just because they couldnt bring it.

speaking of not bringing it...every comedian, this broad in the audience would
heckle. for a good 3 hours she knocked everybody. i personally thought she
was funnier than anyone else, but finally one guy in the audience was like
"shut the hell up and f*#king leave! let the artists perform!" and everyone
cheered. except for me. and except for her boyfriend. he was like, "you dont
talk to my girl that way!" and got in his face. they screamed for a bit until the
mediator guy got inbetween them. then some dude at the bar said, "tell that
b#@tch to leave!" the girl said, "this is america, i can say what i want" which
i had to agree with, altho i agree with the artists also. but then the boyfriend
realized what he said and ran at him. got in his face and said "you dont call my
girl a bia" and he said "im standing right here" and then they were all kicked out.

who do you think was the next act?
yep. yours truly. as the place was settling down i said oh zack, please dont let it
be me. then the mediator said, "well, that was awkward. next up greg...critadin?
man, good luck, we need something spiritual to follow that up." or something to the
effect of wow, dont suck.

i played my first song. it got a polite hand clap. i didnt really put my heart in it bc of
nerves. then i played my second one which was the song i played at the battle of the
bands at semo. at the end, this guy in the audience said, "man, i really dig that last
song! whats it called?" and then some other guy said it sounded like radiohead...which
kinda sucks, but hey they were talking! then apparently the sound guy was saying
good job 3 times and i ignored him, bc i was nervous and elated that someone in the
audience enjoyed it. then i was so nervous i just sat down while zack performed
even though i was suppose to sing harmonies for him. i am a bad friend.

but the guy who complimented me gave me his email and said he wanted to jam and
i apologized to the soundguy for ignoring him and he said, "no problem man, you need to come early next week, because people need to hear your stuff." and my heart swelled up like a balloon.

zack met his future gal, we almost saw a fight, and after 3 hours of nerves and 5 glasses of water, i conquered my first hill.

dolphins and mooching and ecclesiastes

2008-08-04T18:45:00.000-07:00

august is moving right along. the olympics are rapidly
approaching. i need to start getting things in motion!
today i got directions to the first open mic which is on
wed. night. i have been practicing alot and i am ready.

saturday i went to the beach for the first time.
i had forgotten how unforgiving those waves can be
if you attempt to fight them. me and zack both had to
take a break because our ears and limbs hurt so badly
from being thrown around like ragdolls. then i looked back
and exactly right where we were 10 seconds ago i saw a
school of dolphins dancing in the tide. when one wave was
coming down i saw at least 6 dolphins with one more air born!
it looked like the stapler in the jello on the first episode
of the office, only it was dolphins. so naturally, even tho
we were limping, we ran back into the water and chased
the big animals hoping they werent sharks.

then i had one of the most frustrating things happen. i left the beach
early and missed a party to go to my roommate kyle's gig. he told me
he had gotten one person on the guest list. i got there on time, i told the
bouncer. but he was a big ole douche. he said there "was no list" and
didnt know kyle. so i paid ten bucks, then ten more for a jack and coke.
i sat down and kyle was not in sight. i watched the performer playing
on the piano (she was god aweful, which was pretty encouraging, heh)
for about 30 minutes and begin to wonder what was going on. then i
found out kyle was in the OTHER room that played music....what?
so just to sum it up, i left the beach early, missed the party, paid 20 bucks,
and listened to crappy music, only to miss kyles performance. oh well,
i guess i did see dolphins.

yesterday, in my classic gregorian massicistic ways i went and played frisbee
golf again. i got a bit better, and dont loathe it now. but still, come on.
why is it ingrained in my male mind that if i suck at something i must
conquer it? although it was fun hanging with the guys, it was a bit of a wasted
day.

i read through ecclesiastes today and just remembered how amazing
the bible is. so many heavy thoughts to chew on. for instance, it says that
sorrow is better than laughter...and that the heart of the wise is in the
house of mourning. and this gives me peace for some odd reason. i sometimes
get stressed when im not totally happy all the time. i feel like i have to lie to
people so they dont worry about me. but man, sometimes im just not happy.
i think part of that is that i lose sight of what is important in life and i worry to
much about vane things...but yeah, sometimes i am just heavy and thats okay.

in other news, i am getting along swimmingly with my roommates. kyle is very
similar to my best bud in london. he is a great guitar player and we made up
a cool song idea last night. he also has a producers touch, so i may pay him to
help lay my tracks down.
it would be cool if we could start writing. bryson is cut from the same cloth
as myself. we are both thinkers who enjoy the occasional mooch. also, in classic
greg form, i am already gaining the reputation for my mooching abilities. i really
think i am misunderstood tho. i mooch yes, but i also have all of my food open to
the public. i really feel like the majority of the time my giving heart is completely
ignored because of my selfish tendencies...maybe im just making myself feel better.

week 2, getting comfortable, but not too comfortable

2008-08-02T02:15:00.001-07:00

it has been more than a week since ive been here now.
i feel settled, and i feel like it has been a month since charlie
was here.
me and zack have practiced songs the past two nights.
i have found out about open mics pretty much every night
of the week! so as soon as i can gain the courage (within the
week, hopefully) i will start hitting those up.
i also updated my resume and wrote up a cover letter
and sent my first app. to an independent music company in
need of a temp.
today i felt useless and bored so i went on a run thru
the hills where all the expensive homes look down on the city.
it was intense.
i also gave myself a haircut. i look a bit silly.
also! i set up my computer and got internet and set up my
web cam. me and kelly talked in person for the past two nights.
i cant decide if it makes it easier or more difficult to be apart.

california, week one

2008-07-30T13:13:00.000-07:00

now i am in california. it was sad to see charlie leave, i didnt even realize
at the time that i was saying goodbye for multiple months, it just felt
like "see ya tomorrow"

before he left we went to paramount pictures and got an awesome tour
with his buddy mike and watched a movie were spielberg edits his movies.
then i purchased south park for 12 bucks at the gift shop! he also was able to experience
bsf night (breakfast sandwich friday) in all its glory and splendor. oh yeah, and on night
one, zack took us on a walk of downtown glendale and we had in and out!

since then, we have had a dress up bday party for some girls they know.
i was hancock. zack also made some toasted ravs that were, dare i say, better than
the hill.

me and zack cleaned his room, the porch, and the rest of the house. i set up my
computer, got internet and set up my new webcam so i can visit face to face
with people (kelly, kevin, mom so far). a year old bag of bottles and stuff
from a party broke at the very top of zacks stairs and made the loudest cacaphony
of all time. it startled me worse than the earthquake, honestly. glass everywhere.
stains splattered on the walls and carpeted stairs! zacks priceless face like someone just
broke up with him. oh man, i took a pic.

also, i experienced a 5.8 earthquake yesterday! that is alot of fun. i enjoy natural
phenoms.today i begin looking on craiglist for job options!

we also went to a church tuesday night. everyone there was a singer (it felt like) so
worship was amazing. it did make me feel like a small fish in a big pond.
for some reason, this was more comforting than intimidating. knowing i am
not that special is kind of a nice thing to remember. there are thousands of other gregs.

oh yeah, and i love the roommates. this guy kyle, who i am replacing is pretty cool.
your basic blond haired guitar playing californian. then bryson, a way cool
philosophical brotha. and dan, a very big bouncer/teddy bear. scary, yet sings
like kyle from tenacious d.
i had a chance to go play frisbee golf with 3 of them (minus bryson) and it was
better than t.v. although, i loathe...loathe frisbee golf. i suck. who combines two
recreational sports anyways, how lame. id rather play soccer.

cliff notes on the rest of the trip

2008-07-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

well, i got lazy. so here is the rest of the trip as i remember it.
the next day we went to the roswell alien museum. it was disappointing.
we expected more aliens and less newspaper articles about aliens.
so we drove to albuquerque and showered and went out.
we went to red lobster.
i dont feel like typing it, but ask me about the kid in red lobster and
the blue puke.
then we went to see dark night again because we had nothing better to do.
so we went through most of our fun funds that night. worth it.

the next day, day 5?, we went to the grand canyon. we actually just camped
outside of the canyon at kaibab national state park. charlie had a tough time
because he wanted to rough it and didnt bring a sleeping bag. he ended up
wearing my winter coat and it was funny. oh yeah, and on the way we stopped
at the meteor crater! that was awesome. $15 well worth it. plus while we were there
a huge storm came through, just look at the pics.

day 6ish, we break camp and go set up camp inside the grand canyon park.
then we go on the most intense hike of our lives...sort of.
with only a water bottle we trekked down 3 miles into the canyon. it was about
9 miles to reach the river. going down was easy (thats what she said) but hiking back
up was pretty harsh with no food. we were incredibly tired afterward and had the
greatest pb and h sandwich ever. then we showered and went back to camp.

day 7 we went to the canyon again to take pics with the gnome and head to california!
on the way we experienced alot of weird gas station attendants. one such encounter
happened while still in new meheco. i just wanted a candy bar and i waited in line
behind one person for about 3-4 minutes while they talked in spanish. then the
girl in front of me just moves over and watches me while i hand the attendant
lady my whatchamacallit. she says it's a $1.09 mixed in with some mumbly spanish
and i say jeeeeeez. and give her a buck and a quarter. outraged at the price and her
weirdness i decide to wait for my 16 cents. she just stands there staring at the floor
for a good 25 seconds and me and char share looks of confusion.
i say "oh i dont need a receipt, ill just get my change." and she mumbles something in
spanglish that we didnt understand and continued to stare at the floor with an open
register, mind you. after another 20 seconds or so i say in a jerry seinfeldish
smartguy voice (we had been listening to him in the car) "you know what,
why dont you just keep the change." and we left the two ladies just standing there
like a couple of dazed aliens (pun intended).

we also stopped at the very worst excuse for a ghost town in the history of ghost towns.
i pictured dust roads and saloons. what we got was paved streets, 6 flags music, and crappy leather shops. no saloon! luckily, the lady at the gate didnt charge us the $12 to get in.
and the lady at the "ole mine" didnt charge us the $2 to get in. apparently we just looked
very friendly that day.

arrival in alien country

2008-07-20T19:28:00.000-07:00

day 3. yet another goodbye to dan and brie.
gone by 8 15.
long trek thru the top part of texas. nothing crazy happened.
arrived safely in roswell and set up camp at bottomless lake state park.
actually just sinkholes up to 90 feet deep. we walked around one or two and climbed up some rocks
even tho the lady said not to bc of rattle snakes.
now we are starbuckin and getting supplies and headin back to camp to play guitar and balance our mulah. we will probably look at the stars and just cry with joy.
tomorrow we seek alien friends.

Tulsa, is more than OK.

2008-07-20T00:13:00.000-07:00

okay, now day 2. today. it is 2 am and we awake in 5 hours to drive for 9. ill make this brief.
we awoke at 10 and 1030 to dan playing jamariqui on the piano and giving me empty threats of airsoft guns and water buckets.
we go to the farmers market downtown and me and char split a cinn. roll.
we ride bikes along the river with sean.
we swim at seans apt. complex and get burnt.
we go to oru to reminisce about the time we broke curfew and skinny dipped in the prayer pool.
the four boys attempt to jam. jamming is not so successful.
we eat at an irish pub and it is gu lore e us.
we go to the horse races. it is depressing and fun all at once. children are asleep next to their toys on the floor next to their addicted parents...but the actual horse races are pretty friggin sweet.
i am sad that i dont have more time with dan. it is weird that my college roommate is pretty much a fully functioning adult already.
how does everyone else make the college to work transition so well?! i feel reta'did.

beginning with a map and no direction

2008-07-19T22:41:00.001-07:00

man oh man oh man. it feels great to have a blog again.
i once had a xanga site back in the good ole college days before this stuff was everywhere.
maybe it wasnt before, but kind of right b4 it got huge.
anyways, if you want to read about my college days i think my name was AGregSea.

this is my new blog in honor of deck, for fam and friends to know whats going on.
this is what happened on day one.

saying goodbye is the least fun part of life aside from sickness, which can sometimes lead to a goodbye.
i had to say goodbye to all of the people i love in st. louis. jess, rach, kevin, holly, deck, nik and carrie and evan, dads and moms, uncles who arent technically uncles ( okay, just harvey), nana and joan, and various others. the hardest, however, was my girlfriend kelly. it felt like i was ripping my heart out of my heart socket and playing hacky sack with it. ugh. distance better make the heart grow fonder or i will be pissed at distance! i cant believe i miss my mom and dad so much already also, for the record.
of course, i cant help but question why i am moving to california now that its actually occurring. why am i doing this?! i love this place. i love these people. i love my life. but.
i dont love myself. that might not make sense. but it does. i dont love what i spend my time doing. and this makes me feel extremely discontent.
we were playing a game the other night and someone attempting to describe my life in two words wrote only "pleasure" and "music." this was embarrassing because it was true. i am a selfish mother. and yes, to the birdseye observer, me leaving for the sunshine state (i think) in order to pursue musical ambitions would not really seem like the unselfish direction to take to become a content person, but i feel like it is step one in an odd way.

an attempt to do something with my talents. which i believe is crafting songs. if i dont give it at least one honest try ill always have to imagine it. this way, if i suck and i fail, i will have contentment in at least that area of knowing. hopefully after this i will have some insight to myself and will be able to become a bonifide adult man. at the moment, i am really just a balding bearded boy.

wow! deviation much? back on course. day one. i have to fight tears when saying bye to mom and kelly.
i arrive late to my dads house to pick up charlie. this is to be expected, so naturally he isnt angry.
we leave town an hour late with our big map and even dads gps, and are beginning to get excited as i begin my california playlist.
charlie drives a stick shift on the highway for the first time. what a studly muffin.
we arrive in tulsa, ok at about 8.
me char (aka chuck) dan and his new bride brie run up and down the street making a parade for passerbys. i toot a trumpet, dan bangs a gong, and char and brie do the pot and pan thing.
the matlach residence is beautiful. dans art rules each room with an iron fist (art idea dan). i am amazed once again at his talents.
brie makes us dinner. i am amazed once again at her talents.
we go to a rooftop mexican place and have a beer. the outside looks like the wall from the movie cleanslate (carrie).

okay. thats pretty much it for day one.

Prelude to an adventure

2008-07-19T00:23:00.000-07:00

i just wanted to set this blog up tonight so i can have one less thing to think about tonight while trying to sleep. i dont have the energy, but i plan on telling you all (ya'll if erika is reading) about my transition from st. louis to cali. soon, friends, soon.