NOVEMBER JOURNAL

11/29/2000:
I’m listening to Graham Coxon’s first solo album, The Sky Is Too High. Damn, it’s got some great songs on it! "That’s All I Wanna Do" always sends a shiver down my spine. It’s some good shit, knowhatimsayin?
Last night Josh, Stephen and Xander came over in order to go over the Hellers and Schillings music. I should've had the music to my songs written down, so Josh and Stephen would have something to look at, but I left everything at work, so it wasn’t as productive as it could've been and it was all my fault. Oh well...
Xander is loaning me his Fender Rhodes electric piano, so I can work out the rest of the music, plus I just want to play around on it. It’s got a nice funky sound. Too bad I’m not a better keyboard player.
I finished Henry V last night. I did get into it, so I guess I’d have to say I liked it, especially the ending...although I could’ve done without the singing after the last battle...too cheesy!
I can’t wait to get home and play some FF II, since I didn’t play at all yesterday. I’ve got to beat the king of the summoned monsters.

11/28/2000:
I got a boatload of King-Cat Comics and Stories yesterday and I think they may change my life. John Porcellino has such a coherent and positive artistic vision. I’m dumbfounded. I’m flabbergasted. I’m overjoyed. I gotta get my shit together!
Tonight I'm going to try to finish Henry V, but it’s going to be tough, 'cause so far I haven’t gotten into it, plus I’ve got Final Fantasy II tempting me and band practice, too...oh yeah, and all those kick ass King-Cats!

11/27/2000:
I want to start off by saying Joe Johnston can suck my dick! Johnston directed the 90 minute cliché, October Sky, and the cliché—I refuse to refer to it as a film—has as much artistic integrity as you’d expect from a man who is directing Jurassic Park 3. This was the one movie from the list that I was truly dreading, except for maybe The Green Mile, which I’m still avoiding. Avoid October Sky!
I played a lot of Final Fantasy II over the weekend. I was really getting into it last night and sort of angry, too, because the Trap Doors were kicking my ass. Damn those Trap Doors! Fortunately I persevered and I have no doubt that I will recover all the light and dark crystals!
Anyhoo, Thanksgiving was great. I went to my mom’s in San Antonio and ate some delicious food and shot the shit with my brother and sister. I came back to Austin Thursday night, 'cause I had to go to work on Friday, which was sort of a bummer, but at the same time I was glad, 'cause it was slow and I basically got paid to sit around and read.
Friday night I hung out with my ex-girlfriend, Dominique, and that was fun. I played her some of the recordings my bands have made over the past two years and she played some of her newer songs. I was impressed. It was great to see Dominique. I wish Somer had been around to meet her, 'cause I think they would’ve liked each other. Oh well...
Right now, I’m listening to John Denver’s Higher Ground. I bought it a few years ago for 50 cents, but never listened to it. It’s pretty bad. The production is too slick and makes the songs lifeless, but there is one cheesy lyric (but still good) that made me smile: "When I die don’t bury me/In a box in a cold dark [sic] cemetary/Out in the garden would be much better/'Cause I could be pushin’ up a home grown tomato." I firmly believe that cemeteries are a waste of space. I hope that when I die my body can be put to practical use through organ donation and/or scientific study. Whatever is left, I’d like my loved ones to eat...but they all refuse to eat my dead corpse, so being buried in a garden seems like the next best thing.

11/24/2000:

Mustache

No Mustache

11/22/2000:
Shit, I’m tired. I saw J Mascis & the Fog last night at the Mercury. Overall it was a great show. George Berz beat the hell out of his drums all night and, of course, Mike Watt gave his all—-in fact, Somer thought he was going to have a heart attack and at one point it looked liked he was having a seizure, but I guess he was just getting into the groove. My only complaint would be J Mascis’ frequent and tedious guitar solos. He solos like a junior high kid who just learned the blues scale. I must admit that he can play some awesome riffs and most of the songs were good, so it was easy to overlook his one indulgence, plus I just concentrated on Berz and Watt during the truly uninspired noodles. Oh yeah, the opening band, Stumptone, was pretty good, too.
I'm planning on leaving for my mom’s right after work. I'm looking forward to turkey and cranberry sauce...yum! Hopefully, I can get in some quality time with my mom, sister and brother. I also hope to get in some quality reading time, since I’ve been slacking majorly on that front. I’m averaging two or three pages a week with Rabbit at Rest. I have got to be more disciplined.

11/20/2000:
I got Final Fantasy II for the SNES over the weekend and spent a few hours playing it. It’s been a long time since I’ve played an RPG, so I’m enjoying it.
On Friday a bunch of crazy shit happened at the office. Our phones were down for an hour or two and all the computers in part of the building shutdown. It was all a result of miscommunication, which is not surprising considering the people involved. When I was a kid, I thought adults always knew what they were doing, but that is not the case unfortunately. There are a lot of bullshitters and goof-offs out there.
I guess Florida’s Supreme Court is in action right now. Today is my first day of being bored with the recount situation. Until now I was constantly surfing the Net for updates, but now my short attention span has been stretched to it’s limit, although I haven’t adopted the I-don’t-care-who-wins attitude yet. I’m still interested, but I’m not going to seek out the info. If I flip to an update on TV, then I’ll probably watch it, but if not, then I’ll probably just play FF II.
Oh yeah, I had another screwed up dream…this time with not one, but two ex-girlfriends, plus another ex-girlfriend who was never really a girlfriend or even a friend or even someone I know--none other than Sara Gilbert (Darlene Conner from Roseanne). I can’t really remember any details except that it took place at a public swimming pool and I had an argument with Sara’s father (played by John Goodman). Apparently, Mr. Goodman wasn’t happy about me still being friends with Sara. I think I might have walked on water, too. What could it all mean?
Also, I was listening to Faith No More’s Angel Dust in my car during my lunch break and I realized that it is one of my favorite albums. I’ve decided to make some Top Ten lists of my favorite albums, movies, books, etc., but the topics will be more specific. For example, Angel Dust would be on my Top Ten Amazingly Arranged & Produced Albums.

11/15/2000:
I had some fucking horrible dreams last night. In the first one, I am in the bathroom at my childhood home and one of my ex-girlfriends has just tried to flush a bunch of rice down the toilet causing the toilet to overflow. Shit starts spilling onto the floor. I grab a nearby plunger and try to unclog the toilet, but it doesn’t work, so the shit keeps coming until we’re up to are ankles in it. I woke up pretty freaked out. In my next dream I am living in a college dorm and decide to go to the bookstore with my father. While I’m there I buy some comic books. I go back to my dorm, but, while I’m trying to unlock my door, some kids try to find out what I have in my bag. I know that if they find my comic books they will beat me up, so I try to unlock the door quickly, but I keep fumbling with my keys. I talk to the kids and dance around the subject of what’s in my bag and manage to get my door open and throw the bag in my room without them noticing.

11/13/2000:
I had a pretty nice, relaxing weekend. I just chilled at my house, rented some movies (from the list, of course) and watched Somer study. One of the movies was Three Kings. I’ve been wanting to see it since it came out on video, but Somer had already seen it (and didn’t like it), so I had been putting it off. Anyway, I loved it. Not only is it visually interesting, but I think it captures the confusion of the Gulf War (why were we there? how did the media factor into the "fighting"? and other things I’m too inarticulate to mention), although in the end the Military does "do the right thing," but I shouldn’t complain, since I would have been disappointed either way.

11/09/2000:
I had a dilemma last night while doing some laundry. Somer, Cindy and I share a washer and dryer with two women that live in the other half of the duplex. On many occasions, one of those girls has taken our laundry out of the washer and just dumped it onto the top of the dryer (instead of putting into the dryer…or, heaven forbid, not taking it out of the washer in the first place). This behavior would be excusable if Somer and I left clothes in the washer for hours or days, but sometimes it’s just a matter of minutes. So, yesterday I go down to the laundry room and there are clothes in the washer. Now, I must decide if I should 1) come back later 2) remove the wet clothes and dump them on the dryer or 3) put the clothes in the dryer and activate it. If I dump ‘em on the dryer, then maybe the women would realize how shitty it is to have your clothes sit around mildewing. Instead, I put ‘em in the dryer hoping that I’d set a good example. Of course, I doubt they’ll even notice.
I did watch The Conversation last night and it was great. I also watched half of Charlie Chaplain’s The Gold Rush and it’s good, too, except for the cheesy synthesizer sound of the musical accompaniment.
WARNING: the following is a brief rant
I’m disappointed in some of my fellow US citizens. How could you not know about the Electoral College? Is it a sign of our deteriorating public school system? The USA is a federal republic, a collection of states. Duh! I learned this stuff in elementary school!
Also, how could you vote for the wrong person? I’ve seen a copy of the ballot from Palm Beach County, Florida and, although the layout could have been simplified, it was still obvious what spot to punch. Only careless and/or stupid (or visually impaired) people could have voted for Pat Buchanan by mistake.
We have the right to vote, but also the responsibility to be informed. I try to be optimistic about the masses, but today my opinion has taken a significant dip.

11/08/2000:
What a night! I stayed up way too late watching the election coverage. As far as local politics, some things went the way I wanted ‘em to and other things didn’t, but nothing was very upsetting. I’ve become a lot less conservative as I’ve grown older (isn’t it usually the other way around).
I’m looking forward to watching The Conversation tonight.

11/07/2000:
I woke up early this morning in order to get out and vote before going to work. I then listened to NPR’s coverage of the election while at work. I got home expecting to relax and watch The Conversation on AMC, but I got distracted by a phone call and then got sucked into the TV election coverage and I’m still hooked as I write this. Oh well...I taped The Conversation, so I'll watch it tomorrow.

11/06/2000:
Well, I spent the weekend reading, watching movies and missing Somer. I also worked on the Hellers and Schillings project with Xander for a few hours. I’ve got a lot of music and lyrics to write in order to do my part.
Right now, I’m listening to Carrot Boy the Beautiful and trying to make it through the workday.
Oh yeah, I shaved again:

After haircut

After shave

11/03/2000:
Man, I could barely bring myself to get up this morning. I stayed up too late reading and blabbing with Somer. I was late to work, but as usual no one noticed.
I’m about to finish Larry Gonick’s The Cartoon History of the United States. I’ve enjoyed it, but I think it was less informative than Book One of his Cartoon History of the Universe...which is weird because The Cartoon History of the United States only covers a few hundred years compared to the millions that The Cartoon History of the Universe covers.
Now I’m going to finish off my bag of Dolphins & Friends Deliciously Baked Bite Size Crackers Made With Real Cheddar Cheese while listening to Cheap Trick.

11/02/2000:
Ho hum...

11/01/2000:
Today is Neil Young day! I’m listening to Neil Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After the Gold Rush and Silver & Gold. At first I didn’t love Neil Young, but now it might be my favorite, although Trans is an awesome album, too.
I’m trying to finish the monthly postage report, but I’m $0.88 off. It’s driving me crazy! Arrrrrg!
I’m dreading Election Day...