traffic laws for dummies

here's a memo for the lady who gave me not one, but THREE nasty glances after i turned right at a traffic light as she was attempting to turn left (across the intersection):

I HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY, FOR THE LOVE OF STATE FARM!!!!!!!!!!

if i wouldn't have been arrested, i would've hopped out at the next traffic light and explained to her that, not only is she stupid and wrong, but that she needs to work on her "eat shit" look.

it's moments like this when i learn to not pray for patience...

leftovers...

i saw this over at friday's feast and couldn't resist taking part.

appetizer
fill in the blanks: i _____ when i _____.
i whistle while i walk.

soup
name something you use to make your home smell good.
nag champa.

salad
if you could receive a coupon for 50% off of any product, what would you want it to be for?
a hybrid car. unless you count my mortgage as a product...

main course
besides sleeping, what do you spend the majority of the hours of your typical doing?
wishing i was playing music.

dessert
what can you hear right now while answering these questions?
bruce springsteen's darkness on the edge of town (the song, not the album), people talking at work. my loud keyboard clack-clack-clacking away.

the way i wanna go

i've been thinking about how i want to die. no, i'm not ill and, no, i don't plan on dying anytime soon. i just started thinking about my grandfather's death a few years ago and it got me thinking about my own eventual demise. and in that regard, i've made a decision. i want to die like my grandfather, more or less.

i want to die slowly. i want to know that i'm dying and, while i don't want to be in any pain or anything, i want to have the opportunity to wrap all my stuff up and make sure that everyone and everything i need to take care of is taken care of.

i want to have a "last moment" with my friends and loved ones and be able to express my gratitude and devotion and eternal love to bwe (who at that point will be very old, but still one smokin' hot babe). i want to talk about old vacations and tell stories and do a bunch of "remember whens," maybe even take a last big trip. i want to cry and laugh about it.

i don't want to lose my mind, because i like it very much and i think it's one of my better assets. that's actually my biggest fear, having dementia or alzheimers.

i don't think i'm afraid of dying, as long as it gets to be on terms somewhat similar to this. i'm actually not afraid of death itself because, the way i see it (i'm a church going protestant), i'm a christian and christians go to heaven. what i'm afraid of, other than losing my mind, is leaving my family in a pinch, causing them unnecessary grief or pain, or leaving the land of the living with lots of stuff unsaid. that's how my mom died...just ****WHAMMO**** and she was gone.

so anyway, i know it's a little dark and morbid, but now you know how i wanna go.

does anyone else actually spend time thinking about this? when your number's pulled, what's your preferred method of bitin' the big one?

your daily dose of 4th grade humor

i saw this next to the snickers bars, novelty lighters and glow in the dark alien keychains up front at walgreens...

rock of ages!

you're bringin' on the heartaaa-aaa-aache!

one popular bastard

i'm currently on hold with ticketmaster in memphis. i'm also frantically refreshing and re-searching for available tickets through ticketmaster.com, trying to get tickets to see tom waits at the ryman. tickets went on sale today at noon central.

i logged on at 12.00 sharp. razor fucking sharp. there were no tickets available.

it's now 12.14, i've searched for tickets probably almost 60 times and still nothing. and i've been on hold with the memphis folks for about 6 minutes (the nashville line is out of service due to all circuits being busy).

i know there's lots of people out there, but i have a hard time believing that all of them logged in nanoseconds ahead of me and scooped up every last fucking ticket for this show.

i'm beyond pissed. i'm nuclear right about now.

(update: (12.38) i finally got through to a ticketmaster guy in memphis who said he had two singles available, no where near each other and that one had an obstructed view. fuck this.)

i didn't know i had it in me

so there i was, at the climbing gym on tuesday nite, hanging out and working on a few problems, the bouldering sort, not the personal sort.

from across the gym i saw a familiar face, a guy that i used to work with and used to be friends with. key words: used to be. without going into the details, the guy screwed me over. twice. i'm pretty sure he knows that i know he did it once. he doesn't know that i know that he did it twice. i've forgiven him and, to be quite honest, moved on. but i don't want to be his buddy and hang out with him.

back to the action: the former friend sees me and calls my name from across the gym, walking towards me and another friend of mine (acquaintance of his). i give him a head nod and a, "hey," as he gets closer. we stand there, him with his hand extended for a shake, me holding my chalk bag. we exchange pleasantries for a brief second before he asks, "are you not going to shake my hand?" to which i reply, "nope."

i'd never done that before. ever. i've always talked about it, but had never actually followed through. i always thiought it must be cool to be like doc holliday in tombstone, casually mumbling, "forgive me if i don't shake hands," to someone i don't care for. and i did it! i stoned the guy. i stunned him.

i wanted to say, "you can't just fuck me over and then walk up to me a year later and offer your hand like nothing happened." i wanted to tell him that i think he is a shallow, hypocritical prick with bad breath and a napolean complex. i wanted to reveal to him how many people had told me they were glad he had moved and was sorry to see him back in town.

but i didn't. i just said, "nope," and watched as he tried to figure out what had just happened. he talked with my friend for a second, obviously still trying to put it all together. when he turned to walk away (my attention was already elsewhere) i gave a quick, "see ya," to his back, to which he threw up a frustrated hand as if to say, "whatever."

i'm sure i'll run into him again, and i'll probably tell him why i wouldn't shake his hand and that, while i don't mind being polite, we won't be friends.

he's probably already figured that last part out.

wait! don't shoot!

i was prepared to tell you guys all about how cool and awesome and scary and personally rewarding this weekend's shoot was today.

in a nutshell, we shot for about 30 minutes on saturday morning. then the shoot got cancelled. i don't feel like doing a recap as to why, but everything's cool and i'm still doing the film. so, in lieu of a recap, i'm going to offer you this neato picture that i found:(yes, my first thought was, "i wonder if i can climb this?"

again with the randomness

my sincere gratitude...
thanks to everyone that came out to the show last nite! i didn't know how much, if any, of the blogger party would roll on over to the east side, but i was pleasantly surprised (and, to be quite honest, touched) that so many of you came out. i'm hoping that you all liked what you saw and heard enough to come back future shows (the next of which is august 16 at the basement).

so...
before i went to bed last nite i read a quote from president bush's interview with larry king that goes something like this:
"When history looks back, I'd rather be judged as solving problems and being correct, rather than being popular."
umm, mr. president, do you have any evidence of you being a problem solver or of being correct? we're pretty clear on the popularity thing...

in the movies...
i head out of town this weekend (okay, clarksville) to begin filming on fireflies and roman candles. if they give me any pictures or video clips or anything fun, i'll try to post them.

hope everyone has a muy fabuloso weekend!

(edit: i think that i've dropped by everyone's blog who came out last nite and left a personal comment of thanks. if i missed anyone, please let me know so that i may make amends.)

sort've random

-really excited about the rock n roll show tonite, but i'm wondering if i'm gonna feel any blogger love. nashvilleistalking is hosting a blogger party and i've offered to be the post party party. we'll see...if any of you bloggers read this and want to come out, be at the 5spot in east nashville around 9. bring $5 and your party shoes. i promise you'll have a good time.

-we start shooting this weekend for fireflies & roman candles. i'm excited and nervous and apprehensive and all kinds of hoping i don't embarrass myself with my acting (in)ability. i still don't even have all my lines memorized for this weekend's scenes. i'm really hoping that it just kind've, i don't know, comes naturally to me. i'm sure i'll have a report on monday...

-there's a climbing competition at climb nashville tomorrow starting at 6.30. i wish i was entering, but i'm gonna hold off until july's comp. it's free to get in from what i understand. it's not as much fun as watching (or playing) a rock n roll show, but i'd bet you a red bull and a clif bar that you'll have a good time if you come by.

-i'm thinking about getting a mohawk. actually, i've made up my mind, i just have to wait until we're done shooting the film to do so. we're not talking anything extreme like rancid or anything. just nice and tight on the sides with a 5-6 inches of mohawk goodness on top.

-once again, come to the rock n roll show tonite. really. come to the rock n roll show tonite.