Dork

I made one. Don't read it, unless your a dork too.

Who wants to set up a Spring beach camping trip with us?

Nerd

Lately I've developed a fascination with nerdy things. Things that are not nerdy at the surface, but become sometimes very nerdy when i give them the amount of attention that I have been giving them, or desire from them the amount of knowledge that I've been desiring from them.
For example: Polynesian history, zoology and paleozoology, capitalism, model railroads, architecture and the American arts and crafts movement, linguistics, and cartography to name a few.
It's strange, this transformation from the young, social, on the go, pursuer of all things hip, to the not as young, lazy, introvert, beer drinker who shops for globes at thrift stores.
Apparently we grow up.
All this to say the doors of curiosity have been re-opened to one of my personal favorite nerdy things.
Disney.
I am hot on the trail of the history of Disney. The channel, the hotel, the world, and most importantly the man, and the land.
We went to Disneyland yesterday. Everything was dressed up in celebration of the 50th year anniversary. I have always loved Disneyland. Who wouldn't. Acually, I know some who don't. Morons. I have been a pass holder a few times, I have gone many times, and I have set a true affection on that park. Throughout my years of going to Disneyland I have become somewhat of a purist. For example, I wanted to burn down Tarzan's climb when it replaced the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. I wept when The Country Bear Jamboree became The Many Adventures of Whinnie the Pooh. And a fire was lit in my heart yesterday when I saw that the little catfish place on the Rivers of America had become a McDonalds french fry and coke stand. These things are crimes. These things make little kids fat. These things make me sad.
There are so many things I would like to touch on. I may even start a Disneyland blog. For now, I'll read what Al Lutz has to say.
My question to you is this:
Stick with and fix up what the people know and love? Or, out with the old in with the new?

In U, S, and A

Very rich people like to drink 'a wine.

Moving on. I've been back at Double E Design two days a week, and it's been very good to me. On days like today I'm reminded of the reasons why I do want to pursue this trade, which are: the artistic expression, the creative freedom (for the most part), and the 1/2 office to 1/2 field time ratio, among other things. Some days I'm at the drafting table, with talk radio and a pot of coffee. Some days I'm measuring up a sunny job in the field, then plopping down on a pile of sawdust to enjoy a ham sandwich with a mexican framer.
Today I was on a new addition marking walls and shooting grades for an As Built. The client was dishing me up some tea and ginger snaps when I took a laid-back gander around the room and thought to myself, "I just might be able to do this".
Nonetheless an occasional day creeps into the mix where I grow frightened, mislaid, and confused. Yet every new day is just that, a new day. I read it put best by a fellow blogger (Mr. Hamilton) this morning, "I'm not stuck with any one profession".
I'll raise a glass to that.

In our Headlines:
My car is back, rip roarin' with her new tranny.
We will say goodbye to Ol' Yeller, but she's getting her very own blog farewell, coming soon (sniff, sniff).
Supper Club weekend. Food. Wine. Beer. Port. Snow.
My wife reads much more than I do. Her book is featured here.
I am a Nicolas Cage fan.

Nashville Trip

On the second of March Amber and I along with a couple friends made our way out to Nashville Tennessee to visit The Colour boys, who were in town to make a record, as well as to see some sights. Here are a few photos from our time.

On the plane. Two books, one ipod, one crossword puzzle, two and a half packs of peanuts, three bud lights, one bloody mary, two games of hold 'em, and a bag of swedish fish.


It does indeed exist.


A long game of Kings Cup back at the house.


Heading out for a day on the town.


Steven M. Black. 2nd St. Downtown Nashville.


Momma and I at the Opry


The Members Only Blues


That's Amber, and that's the CMT building in the distance.
Country Music Television Y'all!


Wonderin' back home. I enjoy this photo.


Derek was happy to see us. This is at The Mellow Mushroom,
a.k.a. The Best Damned Pizza in the South.


This is Wyatt throwing a bowling ball mach 3. This bowling alley was in the boons, about 45 minutes east of the city. We saw true Heshins.


This is one of the few photos I have of the house we stayed in, which upsets me. This house is lovely, 101 years old, original wood floors, fireplaces in every room, huge front veranda, rocking chairs, and located in the Historical District no less.


Here is a before photo of mine and Derek's home-made backyard firepit.


And after. Many a good late night talk was had here.
One of my favorite parts of the trip.


Here we are having a down right rocking chair ho-down,
singin' The Ashtray Blues


Davey, sad to see us go.


Dirty, catching Z's on the way home.


It was a great time.
Items not shown but worthy of mention:
-Nate, he was there too, I promise.
-The phrase, "Get stoked, and get awesome!"
-Brass Monkeys, 1 40 O.E. with 1 cup O.J.
-Catfish Tacos at Judge Bean's.
-Tequila shots with Kings of Leon.
-Derek's beautiful, clean, fresh, bedroom.
-Riding Deeptank with Sean.
-Bongo Java.
-The black lady on the bus.
-Bar fight over Sean's hat.
-Wussy band kids out-numbering tough guy frat boys.
-and
-Coming home to three feet of snow.

We'all back Y'all!

We had a lot of fun in the South. There are many stories that deserve the accompaniment of some photography, so I will get on that soon. The photo hosting deal that I'm using takes too damn long. For now I must say this, "Nashville? More like Smashville! AAAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA HA HA HA o.k.

Here's one from the weekend before, to hold y'all over.
It's entitled "Born to be Wild".

nashville rules!

we're having an amazing time! when we get back i'll elaborate and post some pictures. but for now i need some advice. nate's sister is here visiting and she is going to give haircuts tomorrow. should i cut my hair? so far i've been told that i should cut some long bangs. i'm scared of bangs and of cutting my hair in general (you all remember the fred savage cut of 99?), but i feel i need a change. please give me some suggestions...-a

this is funny

hist-2>list1-8=:-)

a recap of my last couple days, followed by a list of some sort. the formula to an easy blog session. so let's do'er.
we spent some time with he and she this weekend. we tore the slopes up and the bars down. some good times and some great oldies. photos will soon follow.
brandon was up this weekend, as well, shooting his documentary on the music. it took some time to get used to the camera, but after a few hours it was as if he were nowhere, yet he was everywhere. he was an apparition. he was one with the wall paper.
last night we did a radio interview with tazy for sp and indie 103 and kroq. we had to say things like, "hi this is matt, and this is josh, from the band ann lynn, and your listening to tazy's birthday bash special on ska parade radio one". it was woweewowow.
we had our last d bar show last night as well. we played the faces "ooh la la" and had friends on stage with us stomping their feet. it was fun.
after that amber and i drove home and almost died. it was raining and a great deal of the mountain side was falling down onto the road. then we got to the arctic circle where we must have time warped to the neverending story because we came face to face with "the nothing". it was scary, and i bottomed out over a big rock, and i got pissed off.

things that make me happy/excited:
-long beach wednesday night.
-nashville thursday morn.
-model railroads (preferably HO scale)
-pecan pie by the longshoes
-cold days in my warm little house
-my warm little wife
-tom petty
-cheese dip

the great new hope of literate song-craft
-los angeles times on elliott smith, 1998

if you came out to the d bar last night, thank you. we had a blasty. next week is our final night so be there. i'll have a stack of drink tickets the size of my head and i'll be generous.

the clouds shat about 3 inches of snow on us and i pretty much hate it. not the snow, but this snow. it's been extraordinarily cold so this snow will not melt, it will just spend the next five weeks reducing faintly in size as well as forming an inpenetrable outer shell that will react poorly to the grip of your shoe's rubber soul. when you fall, it will actually begin gently laughing in your ear.

some thoughts

a.) even though jay bennett was a little annoying and hard headed, he was good. he still is. so is edward burch. they are good together. they look alike. what a sad and frustrating thing it must be to be jay bennett, i would think.

b.) i like drinks that come in a bottle. beer and non beer. for example, the good, grimey mexican places that use the tall recycled bottles. i especially prefer a bottle with a twist off top. i've found lately that i will buy beer simply for this reason, resulting in a lot of budweiser, miller high life, and so on. i'll even order them at the bar for their twist off top, and there i don't even get to do the twisting!

c.) i find myself going back and forth, back and forth between pursuing architecture or pursuing teaching. a year or two ago i began developing an interest in teaching highschool history. i've also had loads of experience in the field of building and design. i'm not getting any younger. i'll probably end up teaching hand drafting to a bunch of tenth graders.

d.) i've been greatly enjoying vintage, pre statehood hawaiian music.

e.) we just signed up for netflicks. we are taking suggestions. thanks.

Tonight's the night!

Annlynn is playing at the Detroit Bar tonight and for the next two Mondays this month. Come, friends! The admission is free, the atmosphere is good, there's beer and friends. I need some company at the merch table. The first band goes on at 9:00. Annlynn goes on about 10:45. It's a late night, but we're young and it's worth it. The Detroit Bar is in Costa Mesa, go to www.myspace.com/annlynn for more information. See you tonight!-a

such is life

i'm working. friday night, 8 o clock, and i'm working. sad. i'm getting by with a little "my wife thinks your dead" from junior brown.
yesterday after i got dressed i attempted to fix a minor leak in my shower when it exploded and blasted my body with blistering hot water. then i sliced my thumb trying to stop it. then i finally went to pick up my piano and while moving it the damper pedal broke clean off. the 100 year old pig iron damper pedal.
yesterday was dumb. however i realize now that the way i let it distress me is even dumber. things happen. crappy things. crappy shitty things. such is life. deal with it. at least thats what i paced around mumbling to myself all day.
today was interesting. i hired a mexican named juan felipe to help me spread gravel in the ol' driveway. he was nice, and i've never done anything like that before so i'm glad he was nice. we talked, i practiced my spanish, then i drove him to his probationary drug test, payed him, and that was that.
tomorrow i will sleep in, in an attempt to shake this illness. then i will take my hard workin mama some lunch, then we will go to san pedro for the southern california music awards, which should be... wierd.

give me ten-eye-see!

holy crap i'm bored! i'm about to jam this white out in and around my eyes.

i look forward to:
getting off work,
eating a hot pocket,
watching lost,
falling asleep to linda ronstadt,
and dreaming of whale riding.

amber and i just purchased two pickets to titsburg, i- i mean two tickets to uh, nashville.
this excites the both of us very much. we're going with some friends, to see some more friends as well as to see dolly world, to see graceland, and to get in a pool cue type fight with some real southern tavern divers.
any guidance?

thank-you jj

matt and i finally rented the first season of LOST. it rules. i had seen a couple of episodes before, but it is best to start at the begining and watch them in order. so far we have watched the first four episodes. i would like to give some shout-outs:
first to jj: you gave us "felicity", one of the best shows ever. my college experience would not have been the same without her. next came "alias". i've only watched a little here and there, but i think it's pretty cool. and now LOST, a brilliant show from a brilliant man. and i like the fact that you give greg grunberg ( he played sean on "felicity) a part in all of your shows. i was excited to see him as the pilot on LOST.
second to matthew fox: i loved you in "party of five", glad to see you've made a come back.
third to blockbuster: while i do not agree with your ridiculous late fee policy, and i'm still considering signing up for netflix, you are the only video store in big bear that carries LOST. i appreciate that.
last, but not least, the dinosaurs: i know you're on that island somewhere.

now for some ramblings:

i had a really lovely weekend. on sunday, as you may have read, matt went to a wedding reception for one of his cousins. i've been working way too much and was tired so he let me stay home and he went through the ackwardness without me (thank-you husband, that was amazing of you). so i had a relaxing, leisurely day. i had lunch at bailey's, read my book and wrote in my journal, went shopping for jeans ( i didn't find any), and then i got myself an italiano calzone from maggio's and watched "the office".
i have a crush on tim from '"the office". he looks like jeff tweedy, that might be part of the appeal. he's also really funny. i enjoy when he "winds up" gareth.
february and march are going to be fun. we have st.valentine's day and st.patrick's day: romance and green beer! the boys have their residency at the detroit bar. rosie is coming to visit. becca and darren are coming up for a visit and we're going to go skiing. the supper club is coming up; we're also going skiing. matt and i are going to nashville and i'll be going up to portland to visit suzanne. what a great two months. food, folks, and fun.
my new favorite pizza product is the above mentioned italiano calzone at maggio's. i had it for the first time on friday night when nadia was up visiting (it was great to see you). it has meat sauce, meatballs, pepperoni (which i get in place of italian sausage), and cheese. mmmm...

song i have stuck in my head today: man of the hour, by pearl jam

here

thursday: arriving home amidst the freezing ass and windy expanse of the surrounding evening, i entered my humble abode upon a most blessed sight/sound/smell. a warm and toasty dining/living/kitchen (if you've seen the house you know) area. a wife in her jammies spinning a little chet atkins and putting a kettle on. a few oatmeal cookie smelling candles, and a freshly cracked beatles puzzle awaiting our fiddling fingers. being married.

friday: i worked until eleven. then met up with mikey and put a whole bunch of the family guy on the ol' ipod. "P..., tear, griffen. P tear griffen. Peter Griffen, Damnit!" acually i think it's, "Ah Crap!"

saturday: amber's working on the slopes by 8 am. trooper. dead beat hus slept in to around ten. sat in bed and watched family guy to around eleven. shaved some handlebars. went to bj's sandwich shop for a patty melt and two budweisers. suns out. went to lumber yard, loaded up squareback with stacking stone and spent the rest of the afternoon landscaping the back yard. so that was pretty much man day. i guess, until i pulled into the lumber yard where a bunch of lumber yard type flanel wearin' men stared me down in the cute little yellow car i was in. that night we grabbed a pizza, a six pack, and sixteen episodes of lost. then we grabbed a little bit of each other.

sunday: attended a mostly akward (dry) wedding reception in san diego. on the way home we stopped by the real b.j.'s where sean (now nic'named mentone) proceeded to turn 21 in proper form. had a couple j. reds, discussed plans to fly to nashville, then made friends with a homie/gangster who bought me a bloody mary. i love making friends with gangsters. i absolutely love it!

so here i am again writing about what i did. why do i do this. who the hell cares? nobody.
anyway, tonight josh and i will play some music, then it's time to get serious. amber and i have got a lot of lost to watch. i hope everyone is well.

postscript: customer service is a suck ass thing. i hate bitches.

here

tim- "are all these questions going to be about war?"

gareth- "no i've got loads of ques-, i've got some on tennis, one on the suez canal, loads."

gareth still- "right. next, name the body of water connecting the red sea and mediterranean sea."

just a few random facts about chuck norris as i sit at work and hang ten the web over my stouffer's lean cuisine three cheese chicken and broccoli with red peppers. no preservatives.

fact #1: chuck norris does not hunt because the word hunting infers the probability of failure. chuck norris goes killing.

fact #2: chuck norris counted to infinity twice.

fact #3: chuck norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability. shortly after the transaction was finalized, chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. the devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming.

ohhh man.

does anyone remember that kid "verno" from "stand by me" who always said, "sincerely!" and also brought a comb even though he had no hair?
thinking of the chuck norris days made me think of that.

i'm bored.

spent two days in silverlake

where i/we:

slept on becca's wood floor.
was/were inebriated four times.
raced my wife to ralphs for more beer.
made new international friends at a red lion:
-a german who hated america pre living here.
-a russian who hugged me and sang to me.
-a native american who tamed a stallion.
-a lithuanian who spake japanese.
ate at a backdoor bakery.
yodeled along to 'focus' with some pattersons.
quoted christmas vacation in it's entirety.
talked with a longshoe and wife and dog.
reacted allergically to shellfish or saki.
took two benodryl and went to cha cha's.
fellowshiped with lutherans in pasadena.
made and ate baklava c/o a shant and jen.
listened to art bell.
was/were home by sunday midnight.

dumb lists.
i can't stop.
things to do this week:

tune and play guitar.
tune and play ukulele.
pick up tune and play piano. not gonna happen.
start puzzle with wife.
rent the weather man with wife.
make dinner for wife.
up and drive to vegas. hopefully soon rose.

question:

if you could change your name, what would you go with?

i'd go with either emmett, lyle, or rocky.

click this'n here

please do yourself a favor and take a gander at this.