last night ended up being pretty damn busy for a sunday. after work i headed home to help scott unload a van full of his stuff into the apartment. after lugging heavy box after heavy box up those stairs, we sat around, sweaty and breathing heavy, thinking "this isn't even close to a quarter of the shit." scott still had all the big stuff and assorted other detritus still to be picked up from his apartment.

we took a break, scott deciding to go home and get dinner while i hung out with the girl. she brought over it's a wonderful life, and we curled up on the couch to enjoy the movie. to be honest, i neither of us had ever seen it before. after watching the whole thing, i can definitely see why it's such the christmas classic. i've come to the conclusion that i really love jimmy stewart. the man is in two of my favorite hitchcock film (vertigo and rope), after all. i'm an admitted christmas sap, anyway. i go for all this shit, hook, line, and sinker. after the movie, the girl and i hung out for a bit, just talking and whatnot. it was a nice way to end the busy holiday weekend, i'd say.

and then scott and i moved most of the big shit. and took out all of jess' trash (bags and bags of actual trash). and moved and moved and moved until about 3am. seriously. i basically fell into bed and straight to sleep. do not pass go. do not collect $200. go directly to…sleep.

and now i'm sitting at work, looking at george "the animal" steele's webpage. if you were ever wondering what happened to him…now you know. i'd like to point out that i had no clue the guy was as old as he is.

tonight scott and i move the rest of the big shit. i think we just have the bed left. i'll be glad when this madness is over…

[lame opening line]

i guess thanksgiving wasn't nearly as awkward as i thought it was going to be. i went over to visit "the girl" and her family. they're all a bunch of really friendly people. i felt at ease. there were only a couple of instances where a member of her family referred to me as her "boyfriend," and she jumped on those theories and shot them right down. needless to say, that stung more than a little bit. one thing about her family: the men are all firm believers of "the 'stache." all they need is a sharp pair of aviator sunglasses and we're right back in 1983, i tell ya. magnum p.i. was apparently a favorite show around the respective households. this is in no way a slight to any members of her family. they are all incredibly nice people. they just happen to have magnificent moustaches.

she and i were able to talk out concerns i had regarding the recent change in our relationship. most of the problems and questions i had with it are now smoothed over. i feel a lot better. it kinda goes without saying that most of my issues stemmed from my typical overanalysis and insecurities in issues such as this. right now the whole scenario gets a hearty "thumbs up." she also gets a gold star for being able to understand my incoherent ramblings and still being able to communicate with me effectively. it's nice to be with someone who's just as weird as i am. refreshing, even.

dinner was delicious. just thought i'd point that out. hopefully everyone else had a good feast laid out in front of them.

she and i ended up heading out to catch a movie later thursday night. we were gonna see rush hour 2 at the second run theater, then when that was playing too late, we decided to go check out heist. when we got to the theater, we saw that the newest jean pierre jeunet film was playing. amelie was an awesome film. i highly recommend it to anyone who liked jeunet's work on city of lost children and delicatessen. amelie is a love story told in the way you would expect him to tell it…unexpectedly. just a few notes: (a) dominque pinon is still funny, even when he's speaking a language i don't fully understand and (b) why the hell isn't delicatessen available in dvd in the states?

friday was the kilowatthours show at aslans how. they turned in a great performance and i recorded it. hopefully we'll be seeing it on transmission3000 soon. after the show, scott and i headed out with ben to cahoots to get our drink on. i ran into "the girl" who was also out with friends. this was prior to our discussion about the issues, so i felt pretty awkward. we ended up heading out to the back door because it was bound to be less crowded. she said she'd meet up with us there later, which was cool. we hung out there until dan and chris (the other 2/3 of kilowatthours) and their girlfriends got tired and ditched, hung out for a while, telling "the girl" stories about our semi-recent trip to manhattan, then headed right back to cahoots. scott and i stumbled in the door to the apartment at around 4 in the morning. we pretended to drink some more while we played some ps2, then i crashed out.

saturday was laundry day. the girl and i ended up heading out to see heist (finally) and it was a damn good movie. david mamet hardly ever disappoints, honestly. so i was 2 for 2 on the movie tip, this weekend. this was the night when we ended up having that previously mentioned "talk" that helped straighten my head out.

now i'm at work, no more coffee…facing down what's looking to be a long day. oh well…we all gotta do it sometime.

thanksgiving. the first of the big year-end holidays. the milemarker for the always famous "year-end depression." i'm sitting at work, right now. thanksgiving. work. i'm not here to actually "work," mind you. i just came in to check my email and grab a little free food. it's kind of a downer when you have to go to your workplace, the place you dream of escaping all through the week, to get a holiday dinner. it's not like i couldn't have gone to the store and picked up some bread and turkey slices…but…it's not a meal that should be eaten alone. it's one of those things that we're brought up spending with family and close friends. loved ones of all sorts.

today i sat across a breakroom table from a co-worker that i tend to cut up with quite a bit. he was talking about going to see some girl he met on the internet. i told him "that cup is poison, my friend." he laughed. that was about the end of that conversation.

i'm invited to go to "her" house later this afternoon. i think i've silently agreed to go by telling her to call me when they're going to be having dinner. it's weird. i like her a lot, but after a few weeks of dating, we're not really "together" anymore. this seems to happen to me a lot. this time i know it had nothing to do with me, thank god. she ended a three year relationship less than six months ago. she doesn't know if she's prepared for something serious, at this point. i'm wondering if it'll be weird…i've only met her parents once and it looks like today i'll be surrounded by the extended family. she invited me saying "no one should spend thanksgiving alone."

i'm thankful for my health. i'm thankful for my friends, some of whom i'm not even speaking to, these days. i'm thankful that i have a job that pays me decently for very little actual work. i'm thankful to have someone like "her" in my life, whether we're actually together or not.

and i'm thankful that i won't be spending the holiday alone.

ahh…the holidays. time to settle in to my (a) yearly holiday depression and (b) yearly flu/cold/illness bonanza. sound like a load of fun? you bet your bottom dollar it is, champ.

looks like my grandmother jetted off to florida for turkey day, leaving the rest of the family saying "fuck it. we're not gonna have a big thanksgiving dinner this year. we all just get drunk anyway." this would be fine and dandy, under most circumstances, but it leaves me completely alone on thanksgiving. seeing as i have nowhere to go to grab a free dinner, i was planning on sitting at home with some turkey slices, bread, and some beer. but it looks like i'll be rolling into the workplace for a catered turkey dinner, complete with (probably instant) mashed potatoes. i guess that's the one saving grace.

i'm supposed to do something with the girl later in the evening, and i hope that's not a weird situation. we're not really technically "together" anymore, but it looks like that's not totally out of the question in the future. i dunno. it's just really getting lumped into my big "list of reasons why i will end up being bummed out over the holidays." i should probably get working on finding reasons to not get bummed, huh?

hopefully matt enjoys his trip to virginia.

on the illness front, last night the sinuses started acting up. i woke up yesterday morning with a bit of drainage, but it cleared up within an hour or so. today, however, i'm suffering through a scratchy throat and a clogged nose. it looks like my thanksgiving weekend will also be one spent doped up on cold medicine. can't beat that, huh?

the show is still on for friday, but it's starting to look like my plans for saturday have bombed out, due to circumstances well beyond my control. i guess that's fine. i'll probably use the time to help scott get his moving done. what are roommates for, anyway?

i should probably be drinking clear liquids instead of coke, huh? oh well…i did go grab an early lunch at double dragon. i figure sesame chicken is just as good (if not better) for me as chicken noodle soup, right? today's fortune:

You have an important new business development shaping up.

actually…i can't think of any business i have in development. i would beg to differ, oh mighty fortune cookie…

last night i went over to help my aunt and uncle clean out their computer. they've built up a terrible amount of junk over the last couple of years, so i was over there for a little while. they eventually decided that they wanted to build a new computer, all together. this is cool, everyone needs a little computational speed in their lives, right? there's a point when that pentium 100 with a 4x cd-rom drive just won't cut it anymore…

i skipped the coffee this morning. sorta. i stopped off to get some juice and ended up grabbing one of those bottled frappucinos. damn it. but i'm drinking orange juice right now. does that count for anything? at all?

looks like the holiday weekend filled up pretty quickly, even though i think i'll be sitting at home eating turkey sandwiches on the actual thanksgiving holiday. i'm supposed to hang out with the girl (no longer the girlfriend, long story) later thursday evening, post-family commitments. kilowatthours is playing friday night at aslans how art gallery. and i have a few odds and ends to take care of saturday. next weekend i'll be heading up to cincy to see hey mercedes at bogarts.

and then i need to start thinking about christmas. ugh.

when i walked down out of my room, this morning, i was still surprised to see jess's door open and her room and closet completely empty. if you've ever seen the room before, you know that this instance and when she was actually living there are complete polar opposites. for the most part, even when she "cleaned" her room, you could barely see the floor. now the house feels so big and empty. kinda like when matt moved out. i was alone in the vastness of the third floor, not knowing what to do with all that room. it's the end of an era, really. all of the original tenants of the apartment are now gone. soon it'll just be me and scott.

oh yeah…and clyde.

monday, monday. what to do when the coffee's gone?

how about we confirm a rumor? dave pajo (slint, papa m) is in billy corgan's new band, zwan. proof? how about this excerpt (scroll down to the headline "day late and a dollar short") from a drag city press release? why do you think dave's covering his tracks by going by only "skullfisher" on all official zwan info?

car update: it wasn't the starter. it was the battery. seth and i cut out of work and went to check it out. he gave me a jump from his super huge mustang battery and it started right up. scott and i ended up rolling out to autozone at 1am (24 hours! car parts! a rednecks dream!) to purchase a new battery, and now i'm listening to my tunes with my headlights on and everything. score one point for not getting the car towed to the repair place.

i also got a personal pan pizza at pizza hut. this was while i was still at work. i ordered a cheese pizza with mushrooms. the guy didn't charge me enough for it, so i asked to confirm that there were going to be mushrooms on it. he verified that information…

me: there will be mushrooms on that, correct?
stupid jock guy at pizza hut: yes sir. there will be mushrooms on that.

i also ordered mine for carryout. can you guess where this is going?

so some other pizza hut guy comes sauntering out a few minutes later with two little pizzas on paper plates (seth also ordered a pizza). i told him those were "to go" he ran back, threw them in boxes, and seth and i were out the door. since we were in a hurry, i didn't check my toppings. needless to say, when we got back, there were no mushrooms on my pizza. i like cheese pizza. but that's not the problem, is it?

note to pizza hut: hire some higher caliber morons to work at your restaurant. please.

jess finished moving her stuff out and cleaned her room. the way is now clear for scott to actually move his belongings into his new home. this will be made a lot easier by the fact that he is now a valid keyholder of the casa di bipolar. he is the newest in a long line of co-tenants, and i hope he hangs around. his comment "wow…this closet looks a lot bigger without all of her shit in here." exactly, m'man…exactly.

i finally found out how to link that whackass wishlist. you can view it here. it's pretty short, right now. it has some high dollar items on there, mainly because i'm just, well…wishing.

hail to my queen, baby.

so…seems like i'm keeping with a theme, here. every sunday i sit down at work and tell you about something bad that happened in the course of the just ended weekend. yesterday…the car broke down. yep. this sucks. it's a fucking '97 civic. it should be fine. scott and i determined that it isn't the battery, and another friend deduced that it's probably the starter or some other related bullshit. regardless, scott (the champ that he is) is taking care of getting it towed to st. matthews imports today, and hopefully i'll have it fixed by tomorrow evening. cars…what a load of fuckin' trouble.

i should add that scott gave me a ride into work this morning, as well. what a guy. we even dropped in for the morning mocha. "hey, new roommate…how about you do some shit for me?"

i missed the big meteor shower, last night. the girl and i were planning on rolling out to the country with some friends, but we ended up having a hell of a night friday, which we spent most of yesterday recovering from. let's just say it involved four bottles of wine, a few amstel lights, and a couple black russians. this was amongst five people, of course…

did i mention my car is broke? this is kinda pissing me off.

other than that, the weekend was pretty laid back. scott and i caught the harry potter movie on friday (thumbs down. i like kids movies as much as the next guy, but…thumbs way down). about the only thing i have to say about harry potter is…the star wars and lord of the rings trailers were really cool.

i'm working on a new wishlist, but their site is mildly retarded and i can't figure out how to link my specific wishlist. stay tuned for more "buy me some stuff" action…

i hope today goes by quickly…

hello, wednesday morning! hello mocha! hello dripping heavily chocolated coffee on my leg right after wishing my mocha a hearty hello! fuck.

just because it amuses me, i've stolen an idea and run with it…

top 3 webloggers most likely to spend time in jail:

1. me (i've been there, so i should obviously be number 1)
2. jon – slatch.com
3. greg – youlookgoodinblack.com

there you have it, folks…the roughnecks of the sissy-writing community. as jon said "we could kick some ass."

note to self: mocha doesn't make a noticeable stain on army green pants. excellent.

i grabbed metal gear solid 2 last night. i couldn't resist. it called my name. i was at a loss of common sense. i was not in control of my checkbook. and damn it…my eyes almost popped out of my head when i saw the opening cinema to that frickin' game. i'm gonna drop some simple instructions for you, now…if you have to, take notes.

:::begin instructions:::

if you own a playstation2, go out and buy metal gear solid 2 now. right now. don't order it online. that means they have to ship it to you, meaning it will take longer for you to get the damn thing. if you're at work, get up, act like a zombie, and head straight for the door. if you don't get it today, it will be gone. sold out. the stuff of urban legends. this game will blow your mind. it may make you weep. please be careful.

:::end instructions:::

it's a little known fact that ben lord's seven questions was shitcanned for not being funny enough. keep in mind that ben is one of my close friends. if it can happen to him, it can happen to you. better luck next time, pal.

i'm thinking of getting a new cellphone this week. maybe tomorrow. i'm tired of this pre-pay shit. they're totally gouging me. it's driving me nuts. absolutely apeshit. i'm spending over $100 a month just to make sure i still have contact with the outside world. keep in mind that jess and i eliminated the home phone once it was decided that she was moving out. when scott moves in, home phone service will be restored. but it'll still be nice to have a handy. roadside emergencies and all that hooey.

it looks like paul has hung it up, folks. he's decided to draw the curtain on the puffin-a-go-go. he cites his boring life and lack of anything interesting to post about. it's unfortunate, really. it was and always will be one of my favorite sites. to tell him to reconsider. maybe he could at least keep it open as a record review site…

ahhh…fuck it. i have nothing interesting to post about…

color me a happy guy. i went to court this morning and got my speeding charge (22 over…57 in a 35 zone) dismissed and my suspended license charge was ran down to "no license on person." i walked away with no points from the license and a small fine. this round (finally) goes to me. it's really nice to not feel like a fugitive. since the whole retarded jail episode, i've felt like johnny law has been breathing down my neck, waiting to drag me back to "da slamma."

other than that, i'm flat broke until payday. that's not really a good thing. oh well. two days of being a frugal dude, i guess. been there, done that.

it's really interesting how much shit people get away with for as long as they do. so many people were in court this morning for missed appearances and unpaid fines. one guy skipped court five times and wanted to get his dui back on the docket. the judge was a little less than sympathetic. glad i stayed squarely on his good side.

note to self: pay fines on time. as in…soon.

tonight it looks like it will be a quiet night of watching movies. the girlfriend and i are going to comb wild & wooly for some obscure movies we've been wanting to see (she tends to get more obscure than i do), and drag them home for some serious couch time.

did i mention i'm the world's most uninteresting guy? well…consider it mentioned.