Long time away...

God...I finally get to a point where I think I can keep this thing updated at least every few days and then I have a week like this past one.

As some of you may remember, I work part time at a barbecue restaurant. I host there. I am the guy who asks questions like "How Many?" and "Smoking or non?". Apparently, I am very good at this job, as they are always complementing me on it and asking me to work extra shifts.

So, two Sundays ago, one of the managers that I simply adore called me at home and asked me if I would be willing to work some extra shifts to train some new hosts on the job. I said that I would, immediately thinking about all the time to myself I was giving up.

So, in the last two weeks I worked: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. All 5-6 hours shifts each, in addition to my weekly 40 at the office. I am so fucking exhausted right now I can't even describe it.

And I have another two weeks of it ahead of me. And possibly more...

So, on Wednesday I was finally going to have some time to myself. I leave the office at 12:30 every other Wednesday for my therapy appointment. After therapy, I come home and spend some quality time with myself completing whatever assignment my therapist has given me. This Wednesday I was going to spend some time updating my blog.

Instead I come home to find my cable out. They couldn't come and fix it until yesterday. And when they did come and fix it, I found out that they were the ones who caused the problem in the first place. Apparently when they intiated service for my new downstairs neighbor, they cut my cable line. So, I was out two days of service for their mistake. Believe me, I'll be calling Cox on Monday and there's going to be a reduction to this month's bill.

So now, of course, all the witty and urbane things I was going to share with you on Wednesday have flown right out of my head...I'll try to recapture them...but I will probably not be successful.

This evening after work I went out again with a group of the servers and two of the managers. We generally all drive up to Edmond and sit in the bar at Bennigans and drink beer and chat. A good time was had by all...and I stopped by another friend's house on my way home and chatted with her for a few hours.

Now I'm home, have updated my blog and think I'll watch a few episodes of Alias before turning in.

Which leads me to my closing.

Jennifer Garner kicks ass!

Five Books on a Island

Damn...I've been trying to answer this question since last night, and I'm no closer to an answer now than I was then.

The problem is, the concept of only five books almost makes me panic. I'll take more books than that on a short weekend trip. One only need look at the interior of my apartment to see how difficult this choice is. I just can't narrow it down.

I wanna take classic stuff. I want to take current literature. I want to take the dime store trash I read to shut down my brain. I want to take a library.

Then there's the political stuff, the historical stuff, the science and technology...I mean there's just too much.

And don't suggest picking out favorites. I even read books I hate multiple times.

SO, I'm going to try and come up with my five books for that desert island...but I'm afraid that 24 hours is simply not enough time.

Here's what I can come up with on the spur of the moment:

1. The Complete Poetry of Emily Dickinson, because there isn't a single poem of hers that doesn't touch me on some level.

2. The Lord of the Rings (3 in 1, but you can buy it that way so it counts) by J.R.R. Tolkien, I have to have some adventure reading.

3. Lamb by Christopher Moore (this is my "spiritual" title, hehe), This book is hilarious, irreverant, and made me look at the matters of my Christian faith in a whole new way.

4. Lew Miserable by Victor Hugo, because I truly don't think I could live without this story close at hand.

5.I'm going to leave this spot open for whatever next great book is published that I don't even know about yet. If nothing appropriate comes out, I'll take along Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, because I just love it!

Of course, I left off about 300 other books in my apartment alone that I would want with me. And I feel like I'm betraying all of them right now. ;-)

Matt's Literary Quiz

I got these questions from Matt
and I promised I'd deliver the answers tonight. So while "Moulin Rouge" plays softly in the background on Oxygen...I'll try to answer these questions...

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?

I would be Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird". If ever there was a piece of American Literature to be preserved, this would be it. The subtle balance of the story along with the incredible development of EVERY major character against the backdrop of the American South's racist past is just too incredible to describe. One of my all time favorites.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Along with my last entry, and my predilection for older men...I've always been kind of hot for Atticus Finch...although a very handsome image of Gregory Peck helps out quite a bit here. To prove I'm not a literary snob, I'm also totally in love with both Richard (Cypher) Rahl and Kalahn Amnell from Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" Series.

The last book you bought is:

I think the last books I purchased were "Prick Up Your Ears" by John Lahr and "The Orton Diaries", written by Joe Orton and edited by John Lahr.

The last book you read is: The last book I finished was a trashy favorite of mine. An original novel based on the BBC series Doctor Who. The title is The Crystal Buchephalus" by Craig Hinton. It's a fifth doctor story, with plenty of Tegan Jovanka in it. Good Times.

What are you currently reading?

I'm currently reading: The two books from John Lahr I mentioned as the two books I purchased most recently, along with a collection of the plays of Joe Orton, "Mother Tongue" by Bill Bryson. "Adventures of a Verbivore" by Richard Lederer, "Closet Case" by Robert Rodi, and several others...

Five books you would take to a deserted island:

I'll post this list tomorrow as a separate entry...

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?

I honestly don't know who I'll pass this along to...I'll find someone...


Well, that's it folks. Heading to bed now...

Truly Thankful

I have been blessed in my life. I have an extraordinary group of friends. Friends of all kinds. There are the friends I see on a daily basis, those individuals that I work and share my life with at the office.

There are the friends that I share my down time with. That group of people that I spend the weekends with, sitting in someone's living room, talking, watching movies or playing games.

Then there are the friends that I see infrequently. The people that I care deeply for that I see less and less as time goes by, as we grow and form other bonds and realtionships, as adults do.

But I learned an important lesson about friendship this week. Some of the people who know you best, who care about you, can be the people you have never "met" at all.

I received a birthday gift on Thursday, that touched me very deeply, from one of those friends I've never met in the flesh. But, oh, was a I ever so thankful for the gift. I received, what is probably, one of the nicest gifts I'd ever recieved.

And it's led me to this conclusion: The greatest gift one can receive is that which was never expected or imagined of.

It's the gift that seemingly drops into your lap from the ether.

And while it is unexpected, it can be one of the most important things to come to you at that point in your life.

So, thanks to that one friend I've never met, for giving me a gift that defies description.

It just showed that you cared.

Underling-Now Twenty-Seven

Well, I've officially been 27 for nearly 10 hours. I really don't feel any different, but I'm glad to have finally reached the age of 27. It's long been my favorite number.

This is also my last age-increasing birthday for a few years. I long ago decided that I like the number 27 so well, I was going to stay at this age for a while. I jokingly told people at work that I would stay at 27 until I couldn't pull it off anymore and then I would finally admit to being 62.

The day has started out well, got to stay in bed until after 10:00. Then the roofers tearing off the roof two houses down made it necessary to get out of bed. Noisy lot, those guys.

Now, I've just spent the last 30 minutes reading on the balcony. (Would it be too pretentious of me to start referring to it as the terrace?) and cmae back in to check e-mail. Now I think I'll head to the gym for a run on the treadmill and a nice long soak in the steam.

I had planned on taking tomorrow off as well, but then I had a massive allergy attack on Monday night and was still feeling its effects on Tuesday morning. (If you've a problem with dust, don't ever turn on a ceiling fan in a new place without first swiffering the tops of the blades. I had a years worth of dust blown down into my face and then spent an hour cleaning it off of surfaces.) So, I'll be returning to the office tomorrow, but I may still nip out a bit early and try to get in some gym time.

Well, off I go.

Mornings

Mornings are becoming so difficult for me. I just can't seem to wake up and get going. Have to be at work in less than an hour and I just can't seem to make myself get going.

Maybe if I didn't hate my job...

A Letter To Paula

My Dear Ms. Abdul,

I love you with all my heart. I have loved you since the tender age of 11, the first time I saw you dancing your heart out in the video for "Straight Up".

That being said, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop taking whatever it is you're taking before American Idol's live shows on Tuesday nights. Last week you were obviously slurring most of your words, and the things you said made little or no sense.

Tonight, while you were not as clearly strung out as last week, I could still see the glassiness in your eyes.

Honey, please get some help. I want to be able to continue to enjoy how fabulous you are. And I can't enjoy you when you are clearly drunk/stoned/strung out.

Thanks so much.

Your fan,

Underling

Broadcasting From a New Location

Greetings, Sports Fans!

Foe the first time ever, I am joining you from me new apartment. After a lengthy visit to Best Buy yesterday, I am now the proud owner of a shiny new laptop. I am once again posting from the comfort of my own home instead of the office where nosy co-workers were constantly looking over my shoulder.

I also just joined the digital age in another way. I just successfully burned my first CD.

I can hear you now shouting, "Surely not, Underling. This thing that you tell us cannot be so!"

Well, it is so. I've never had a comp with a burner before. So I just finished making myself an exciting mix of men's solo and group artists. I've got every one from Jack Johnson, Ben Kweller, IZ, Maroon 5, Radiohead, The Kinks and on and on.

In about 5 more years I might just be ready for an mp3 player.

Well, signing off for the night. There are some books in the living room that aren't going to read themselves.

April Foolery

You know, at nearly 27 years of age, I'm probably too old to be participating in April Fool's pranks. But last Friday I couldn't help myself. I got a couple of my co-workers, and I wanted to share those parnks with you.

1. Rebecca, who sits across from me, had pulled the "Fake Pregnancy Prank" on our mutual friend Heather. She pretended to be very upset about finding out she was pregnant. Got our friend Heather quite worked up trying to be supportive.

So, I had the supervisor call Rebecca into the office. While she kept her occupied I had another co-worker get her keys out of her drawer. I ran outside and unlocked her car door and then brought the keys back.

About 10 minutes later I walked back outside and got in her car. I knew where she kept a spare ignition key hidden.

Then I stole her car. I parked at the church down the street and then walked back to the office.

She didn't even notice her car was missing from the parking lot (it's a very small lot) and realized her car was missing only when she tried to leave for the day.

2. Tiffany. There was no real reason to prank Tiffany, but I felt like it, so that was reason enough. Her's was very simple, I jacked the keys on the 10 key on her computer keyboard so that they were arranged telephone fashion.

This prank didn't pay off until this morning. While attempting to log in to the system, she managed to lock herself out, and finally called the systems unit to find out why her keyboard was typing the wrong letters.

Only after talking to them (a humiliating conversation, you know) she realized that the keys were backwards.

So, all in all, a good April Fool's day.

Oh...btw...guess who's having a birthday this week?

Shades of 1996

I think I'm a member of the last generation who ever spent vast amounts of time making mix tapes. Yes, now the crazy kids (and adults) have the ability to make mix CD's, but it really isn't the same thing now, is it?

To make the best quality mix tape was an art form. You had to have the right kind of tape, the right kind of dual tape head stereo and the patience to sit through each and every song you wanted to record.

I bring this up for a reason. Recently the stereo in my car started working again, now the radio has always worked, but my tape deck (yes, tape deck. It's a '95, before CD players were the standard issue in GM cars.) goes through bouts of wanting to play everything backwards.

I have very few surviving albums on cassette. Most of them were disposed of once I had replaced them on CD in the late nineties. Once upon a time I had a huge box filled with tapes...now very few remain...except for my mix tapes.

I grabbed one on the way out of the house this morning, having no desire to hear the morning radio-heads go one about Terri Schiavo and the Pope...

I rewound it to the beginning before pulling out of the driveway and then started listening. On my way to work this morning, I heard three songs that plunged me straight back to 1996, my freshman year in college.

First was "Hook" by Blues Traveler. Always a favorite of mine, this particular John Popper song features one of the most incredible harmonica solos in the world. Listening to that song made me fall in love with John Popper, even back when he was still fat and gross. (Now he's not fat, just gross, and I still love him.) This song was also exciting for a nerd like me as the "Hook" of the song is actually a waaaayyyyyy slowed down version of Pachbel's Cannon in D.

The next song to come pouring out of the speakers was Counting Crows "Long December". Oh God, how I loved to listen to that song in my love sick days of late '96 and early '97. As a senior in high school I'd developed a MAJOR crush on a fellow debater who was a year ahead of me. By the time I realized I was totally school-boy in love with him, he was a freshman at OU. I used to see him at various times. By my freshman year in college I could barely think of him without swooning. I used to listen to this song and write page after page in my journal about how much I loved him. Looking back to that time, I am sheepish about the amount of time I spent dwelling on Stephen. I think I might have fared a bit better that first year of college had I not been so fixated with him.

(byt the way, the crush finally went away...but I'm sometimes nostalgic for that feeling of utter joy I used to get thinking about him.)

The third and final song I heard on my 10 minute commute to work was "Santeria" by Sublime. I remember being absolutely crushed by the new of Brad Nowell's death. The entire self-titled album is incredible, but the song "Santeria" just conjures images of cruising around in my 1981 Chevy half-ton with my friends and the possibility the future held at that point in my life.

So, a good start to my day that is making me nostalgic for the days when I was just a mere slip of a boy, away from home for the first time.