gonna be a short post today, after my mental eruption of last night. apologies to those readers who's eyes were terribly strained by the tiny font I put yesterday's post in. I was suitably chastised by brian and several other friends, and have corrected it now.

waking up this afternoon, I was surprised to find several people in my house. I think today was the first time that's happened in several years. back in college ('94-'96ish) it became a daily routine to wake up and find between 2 and 20 people hanging out in the living room, but since moving to Louisville, the guests tend to be less frequent and more spaced out.

seeing all those people in the house was a pleasant reminder of how things used to be, and in the spirit of those memories, I suggested an impromptu cookout. it went well, fun was had by all.

no word yet from my potential employers. perhaps if I can wake up before 3:00 pm tomorrow I'll be able to give them a call myself…

obligatory link for the day: TheElectricChair.com
sorry, didn't do much surfing today…

western kentucky is truly a remarkable place. the more things change the more they stay the same. you can read my bio on coffeemonk.com to see what I think of the place I hesitantly call home.

really though, my visit was nice. my parents, being from the mountains of Virginia, are easy going, down home folks (yes, I used the word "folks") who are SO normal it's almost scary. my 12 yr old brother, bless his heart, is the product of his environment, as I suppose we all are. he's going through the phase in his life (which I imagine only afflicts "southerners") where the word rebel and the confederate flag hold some special magic. it seems very disturbing to me now, but I recall going through something similar when I was his age, so I guess it will pass once he gets away from the amber waves and into "real life." I HOPE it will pass.

on my way out of town, i heard, for the first time since leaving Princeton, the word "nigger" used in a real conversation. now, my friends and I, far from being racist, are prone to making racial slurs in the name of humor, usually poking fun at people who would really think and speak that way.

don't get me wrong here. Racism is NOT funny–what is funny (in a sick, hopeless sort of way) is that there are people in this world who are ignorant enough to believe they are in some way superior to people with different color skin or different religious beliefs. I could go on on this subject for days, about the ills of the world and the sicknesses that infect our society, but I sincerely doubt anybody wants to read a weblog for that long.

i had a chat with my little brother, hoping to impart to him that thinking, speaking and acting like this was wrong. he is young, and being raised in that town where things like this are not only commonplace, but almost expected. it is one of the sad reasons I don't visit my parents much, and when I do, I usually stay cooped up in their house for the duration.

in other news, as brian pointed out in his log, over there Steal This Blog. brian wasn't sure if their mention of our site was favorable or not, but after reading it, I'd definitely say it was. thanks to Tom for noticing us. I guess I'm the "journal" and brian's the "weblog." so be it. I'm just glad someone was "amused." that's all I can ask.

i need your help: I'll admit it, I'm lazy. If anyone knows of a good place that can process online transactions cheaply (or for free) please . The three-toed sloth that is coffeemonk.com needs this capability. I'm almost finished putting a web-based version of my poetry book online, and would like to be able to sell some physical copies of it as well. oh, and if you're interested in art, literature, music, or film, go check out the site. there's not much on there right now, but we've got big plans.

damn, if any of you are still reading this long ass thing I've written here, thanks for sticking with me. time to hit the sack and hope I get a call in the morning telling me when I can start working. I need a job.

getting ready to go home for the weekend, visit my parents for the first time since christmas. since I've got a few days before I start my new job, and since I haven't visited them so far during my month and a half unemployment, I figure its about time.

it's nice to have cool parents… well I guess I can't really say cool, but understanding, helpful, and loving. it's nice to have parents that really care about you and really do what they can to help you achieve something, either by their encouragement, or by bailing you out with rent money when you're unemployed.

so many people don't have that, in fact, most of the people I know don't have that loving, stable family background. its really sad, but it has made them stronger people, more independent I suppose.

I guess as long as we learn how to take care of ourselves, and don't fall into the traps our parents set for us–whether they were good parents or bad parents–we'll turn out okay in the end. parental guidance helps a lot, but self-guidance is perhaps more important.

anyway, I'd intended this to be just a short little entry saying have a good weekend!

not much to yak about today. slept until damn near 4:00 pm. went to lunch at the twig and sat there for an hour or so reading.

i can't wait to finally work again, it'll give me something to do at least. s'funny, there's a whole bunch of stuff I could be doing during the day, creating web sites, editing my book, writing my novel, writing some poetry, beating small children, I just don't seem to have the motivation for any of it.

then, I sat down to check my email and write this entry, probably about 2:00 am or so, then got sucked into bewitched.com and lost three hours. damn.

perhaps tomorrow will be better.

another day comes to a close. there's not enough going on in my life right now to warrant a weblog. oh well.

one thing I have realized in the past month or so is that if I'm going to be in a band, I probably need to learn how to play guitar.

something else I discovered recently–I'd heard it mentioned before, but this article claims to be quoting from "official" reports by organizations like the American Cancer Society–anyway, I learned that beer really is good for you.

brian may be right. perhaps I am a chickenshit. but when you're at a show to listen to one of your favorite bands, romance suddenly gets knocked down the priority list… at least for me. I go to shows to see my favorite artists play my favorite music, to enjoy hearing it live and louder than my dinky stereo at home will go.
then there's the whole thing where ALL my friends were goading me into talking to this girl. their pushing never works, and yet they always do it.
finally, this girl may have looked good enough for me to want to grab her and do the standing wheelbarrow right there in the middle of the show, but she's one of those girls who looks good, knows it, and then tries to prove it. basically, she was acting like she was some hot shit, and that kind of attitude just turns me right off. I don't mind a girl having a little attitude, hell I encourage it, but when she thinks she's just the greatest thing going, she's not.
so, maybe I'm a chicken shit for not walking up to her, bumping the morons she was talking to out of the way, and at least saying hi. maybe so, but I feel justified since she pretty much just annoyed the hell out of me through 90% of the show once my friends shut up and stopped bugging me so I could actually watch her and see if she was worth the trouble. (oh, and the 10% of the show where she wasn't annoying was when she was actually just standing there listening to the music, and not trying to act like a badass)

damn, kinda went off there.

g'night.

well, brian over there's taken off like a lemur, so I guess I better get crackin.

got me a new j o b today, I'll be workin at Kinko's third shift. I fucking hate third shift, but my broke ass needs money. being unemployed for a month and a half–though relaxing and enjoyable in a "hey I don't have to do shit" kind of way–really sucked. it's nice to be occasionally able to eat.

ok. so brian and I and a few friends went to see The Reverend tonight, and as always, they fuckin rocked. if you've not heard the Heat, get your ass to your nearest record store and buy "Holy Roller" (a best of collection, and a very good introduction to the band).

damn, it's almost 5:30 in the a.m., time to smoke my last cigarette of the day and hit the sack.

here's another test, yo. first damn weblog entry and I'm getting a serious case of writer's block. funny, considering I'm supposed to be some kind of writer. oh well.