Reading/Listening, Good Words

Reading: Still Lewis Black. I got a new Popular Science so I got derailed for a bit.

Listening: I was listening to a lot of Medeski, Martin, and Wood over the weekend. For those of you who don't know them (all of you), MMW are a modern jazz trio. They are pretty amazing. If you don't like jazz at all, this probably isn't going to lure you. If you do like jazz, you should check it out. Songs like Bubblehouse are just simply really intelligent and are "must listen" songs.

I used the word "handsy" at work the other day and it got me thinking. There are tons of words that are just awesome. Handsy. Frolick. Vixen. I had a lot more, but I waited a couple of days to type this tiny, pathetic blog and so I forgot most of them.

Hope everybody is doing well. More soon.

Reading/Listening, Furniture

Reading: Still Lewis Black. I'm a little over halfway finished and I'm somewhat disappointed. It's not the book's fault, it's my own. I expected it to be exactly like some of his stand up. Instead, it is more like his views on things peppered with his humor. I thought I was in for an endless belly laugh, instead I get periodic chuckles. It is a very enjoyable book.

Listening: Virginia popped in some Frank Sinatra the other night which was a great change. It started me on a schizophrenic listening scheme though. Just today I've listened to trance, hip-hop, rap, punk, jazz, 80s (damn you Tiffany), a peaceful little number sung entirely in French, and some classic rock. And all of this occurred in the span of about three hours. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

We got our new bedroom furniture today. No more t-shirts in suitcases on the floor. I have too many damn clothes though, which is depressing. When Virginia moved here, my sister helped me clean out an entire closet's worth of clothes. Somehow I'm still busting at the seams with t-shirts though. I need to sort through them. The house is taking shape though. The kitchen is done for the time being. Virginia pained the bathroom today when I passed out on the couch with the dog. Now our bedroom is done. The tortoise is winning the race.

Reading/Listening, Vacation, Not Promotion

Reading: I finally finished Miranda July. I just made the decision to finish her and set to it like a horrible school assignment that I was dreading. The last couple of stories were okay, and I actually enjoyed one or two of them. I think she got tired of trying so hard and gave up. The irony is that her writing improved. I don't have the names of the stories I enjoyed because I lost the book in the move somehow. I'm sure it will show up, but I can't find it for anything right now. I've started reading a book by Lewis Black, Nothing is Sacred. It's not as funny as he is in his stand up, but I've always admired his opinions on everything I've heard him talk about. I'm maybe a third of the way through right now and it's pretty slow. I hope it picks up. I hope my next book choice doesn't leave me hoping that it picks up.

Listening: Deep in the Jungle by Blackalicious. This track is off of the Quannum labels showcase album. It's a really simple beat from Chief Xcel that highlights Gift of Gab's ability to absolutely blaze out words like the Micromachine guy. It's nifty. Check it out.

I went to Lake Tahoe over the weekend for a wedding. It was a nice break. I was really sick of work and just needed to get away. We saw Virginia's parents, went to her best friend's wedding on the beach of Lake Tahoe, kayaked around part of the lake, and spent the rest of the time kicking back. I did so much and right now I just can't spill it all. It's not that I'm hiding anything, it's just the writing isn't flowing right now.

I was denied a third promotion while I was on vacation. This one was expected, but still a nice kick in the scrotum. It was expected because the other ACSM who was next on the list for promotion worked in the branch with the opening. The branch manager only interviewed people because he had to. I interviewed really well, but I'm still on the same island. This is the third time in as many months that I've been shot down for a promotion. What makes it incredibly hard is that I'm already doing the job that I'm getting denied. It makes my head spin sometimes trying to wrap it around this thought. Okay, writing just isn't coming tonight. I'll stop here.

House Stuff, Blue, Vacation

So we've done a pretty good job with the house so far. I've nearly gotten the shower curtain rod back up. All I need to do is go and buy a drill bit for some guide holes and then we're back in business. I need to put another layer of joint compound over the holes in the basement because they didn't patch very well. I mowed the lawn today, as well as alphabetized my books and movies, and I also put some wire ties on the cables on the entertainment center. We only have one area left to unpack and then we have a lot of stuff to paint, starting with the pink room.

Last week was a bad week for me. I've been pushing it lately, and I finally crashed Friday and Saturday. I have to really focus on staying happy and not letting things get me down, otherwise it all crashes over me like a wave and I get caught in the emotional riptide and swept away. To summarize, Virginia's murderous pediatric surgery rotation took its toll on our relationship, my job somehow got more boring, there's a litany of things that need done with the house, and this list of things amplify the fact that I don't make jack shit for wages. These were the droplets on the leading edge of the wave that smashed me into some coral Friday. I'm better now. Despite being uneasy with Virginia for about a week now, we talked everything out and are much better. It's why I'm crazily in love with her. No matter what problems we have, we always talk about them very openly and very honestly. I don't know any other woman that I can look in the face and tell her that she's been "sort of a dick" lately without her getting mad. Also, she's the first woman that has figured out that she can do the same and I don't get upset either. It's why we work. So that fixed the relationship issues. The house issues didn't go away, but I just had to take some time to remind myself that it isn't going to be perfect tomorrow. It's okay if it takes me some time to knock out projects seeing that I'm not exactly "handy." As for the job, well, there's only one real fix there, and I'll be dedicating some time to it this week. I feel somewhat better, but I know that my feelings will improve all week.

My feelings will improve immensely on Friday when Virginia and I wing it to Lake Tahoe for five glorious days of not working. Virginia has read me passages from an astrology book about my sign (Taurus) and it really makes sense. I don't put too much stock in that stuff but it is spooky how accurate it is at times. Specifically, I'm a Cusp of Power Taurus because I'm born so close to the Aries sign (I'm April 24th). One thing that really stood out to me was how the book said that I could do inhuman amounts of work as long as I had periods to decompress. It couldn't be more true. Sticking in ten and eleven hour shifts at the bank drain me, but I can keep plugging away when I know that I have a vacation on the horizon. These next three days are going to be hell knowing that freedom is just around the bend. The dog just fell asleep standing up next to me in bed, so that's the sign that it's time to end the blog. Until tomorrow.