OF ALL THE THINGS THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TODAY: WATER! (and its only 7:30am!)
so i went home this morning to get ready for work - i didn't want to go in - but for some reason i woke up amazingly awake this morning - got right up and went about my day - unlike other mornings when i takes multiple tries to get out of bed and then a whole hell of a lot more just to get going -
well the drive was nice - the sun was just coming up over the eastern hills and the sky had a pretty orangeish pink hue to it - i remember thinking - what a nice day - i hope it all goes well - the rest of the drive was nice - no traffic at all and no stupid drivers - so i had no complaints -
i got to my apt building and took the elevator upstairs to the 5th floor where my apt is - opened the door went into the bathroom and emptied my pockets of the things i would need to bring with me to work - at that point in time i decided to wear my grey and black striped polo to work - it was comfortable and i wouldn't need to wear a jacket - so i went from my bathroom into my bedroom - splosh, splosh - hmmm......is that water on the floor - truthfully i didn't even notice it at frist cause it was warm water - so i just walked into the bedroom and opened the closet - then it hit me!! - i am in my closet (no jokes here please) and i am standing in water!!!! -
!!!!!!! fuck !!!!!!!
oh my god - i believe i sploshed over and opened the door to the utility part of my apartment and just looked on in awe of the steady trickle of water pouring out of some tube - so what do i do - aparently run around in my apartment for about 5 minutes letting out energy - cause thats what i did - first i though "get a bucket" - right the tube is about 5 inches off the ground like a bucket would fit under that - but don't think i didn't try!!! - second thought was to get towels - so i ran into the bathroom and looked at all my towels i just washed so clean and fluffy - ugh - scratch that idea and call the land lord - so i called my land lord at 7:20am and surprisingly - !! - someone picked up on the first ring - some really nice lady told me that she would call the plumbers they use and that she would get someone over to my place in a jiffy - WHOA! - that made me feel a whole hell of a lot better -
so i then decided that i needed to break out the towels and get some of this water all moped up - all in all i have used almost every towel - save two for me to use - wash clothes and hand towels - no dish towels though - they really have no absorbency - so i started in my bedroom seeping up the water in the carpets - the sad part is that the water came up fairly easy - the bad part is that i don't have nearly enough towels to seep it all up - !! - when i realize this i start to freak out again - ..........and then the door buzzer sounds - at 8:10 am! -
the plumber (with a very narly mullet!!) got here really quickly which surprised me - but then again my landlord said she told him it was an emergency - and i guess if that is what you need to do to light a fire under there asses then do it - wearing very very dirty blue jeans, a camo t-shirt and one of those silk shiney looking 80's jackets, that i was expecting to have say Tony's Pizza on that back, he looked completely a mess - but he comically had a huge monkey wrench slung over his shoulder that gave me a laugh - the whole look seemed to say - look out, i'm a bad ass 80s plumber!!! - but he walks in on my floor i just hand scrubbed yesterday with his dry muddy boots (you can see where i am going with this right!) and askes me where the hot water heater is - i show him and the looks and says -
Mullet Plumber: oh yeah, its your blah blah whatever valve. i can fix this no problem.
Me: sweet, thank you so much.
Mullet Plumber: that is, if i have the part. this is a really weird water heater.
Me: (dumbfounded by a "weird water heater" tag) what if you don't have the part?
Mullet Plumber: oh, we can order it. but let me go look first.
what do i say - i just freaked even more and started throwing towels everywhere to clean up the water and the mud he left behind - knowing i would need to get the towels washed i called the most amazing man (you know who you are, and thank you!!) in the world to see if he could help me out - he said that he could wash some towels for me today - god i love that kid so much - he is the fucking best thing in the world - i seriously owe you big time for this man!!! - so thank god he will help me out - so i throw the rest of the towels down and soak up more water - at this point in time the buzer sounds again and the plumber comes back in with some peice of metal - he tells me that this isn't exactly the peice he needs but he thinks he can make it work - i gave him this perplexed look and asked "what if it doesn't work?" - well the plumber tells me that it will probably work - but the chances of it breaking are greater cause its not an exact fit -
what?!?!
just what i need is this peice of metal shit breaking and flooding the rest of my apartment - fuck it though - so i let him finish the work and i continued to clean up the giant mess that was left - ugh -
but as i think about things - the day can only get better................................
today was a long hard day at work - i officially slept for about the first hour while the kids were sleeping or.....er...sitting in their rooms - and then i slept through Morals and Values - which consists of watching the horrendous Hour of Power on television - with those wonderful telavangelists - eh the father and son - i can't think of what their names are - anyway - it sucks hardcore - and i have to watch it every other weekend - well i didn't today - i slept -
the rest of the day i did absolutely nothing - which included putting a 500 peice puzzle together - cooking lunch and dinner - watching and taunting some kids in seclusion - and working on two other puzzles which ended with me and my co-worker throwing them all over when we found we were missing peices - ugh - not fun -
so i have gotten absolutely nothing accomplished today - but.....i made $150 doing so - so i am not so sad about it - yeah - it was ok - it will be even better when tuesday is here and i have mo 4 days off - yee-haw
it been one of those weird nights - where you spend a lot of time alone when you don't really want to be alone - which led me to think....about cleaning at frist - and rearanging my living room and spare guest room - NO - that will not be done as it involves too much work and i am in the sloth of all moods right now - so....i was thinking as i was making dinner tonight - i really don't like my job at all - actually i could say i down right hate it - but whats a kid to do - i have exhausted all other job oppertunities in the community - and the one job that i am really qualified for is not hiring nor from what i have gathered from the bitch i hate my job secratary they are never hiring - so then i go back to college - and then what - get another job somewhere else - ? - does anyone actually like their job? - i have know lots of people who work to make money but do it just getting by in their work environment - mostly because they don't like their work - but they will do it - there is nothing that says going back to school will garner me with anything new or that i will love {or even like} the new job i apply for or an trained for - i don't know - really where any of this is coming from or why it is bothering me such - but i guess just the rejection letter i received from Jackson Recovery was a blow to me - i keep thinking about it now - "you lack the experience necessary to fill this position" - but since i have been out of school - i have only worked for about 9 months at one place - some positions require about 3 years of prior experience - am i supposed to toil away - making $9 dollars an hour for 3 years in a physically and emotionally damaging environment - - - - NO - - - this is not an option for me - so its back to school then - for what though - to go back to where i was before but with a different title - NO - but what to do then......
i origonally tried to go to sleep at about 1 - but i couldn't sleep and got back up at 1:30 and have been listening to Maps by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs on repeat for some time now - and i thought i would write - but now i am actually getting sleepy - which is good - cause i have a grad school packet to look through tomorrow -
over the weekend the Iowa State Cyclones men's and women's basketball teams beat ranked opponents - the Cyclone men beat No. 11 Texas while the Cyclone women beat up onNo. 18 Baylor - - - both games are huge potential helpers for both teams bids to get into the NCAA tournement - thats right folks its getting to be that time again - i mean hell - MARCH is only three weeks away - !! - !! -
the Cyclone men's team desperately needed a huge win over a highly ranked opponenet - Texas would sufice and give the men their second big win (first was No.12 Kansas on the 17th of Jan) - but with an overall record of 14-7 (5-5 in the Big 12) things are not looking so good - the cyclones will probably have to win out atleast 3/4th of thier remaining games and make it far into the Big 12 tourney to get into the NCAAs - this win helps alot -
the Cyclone women already have big wins over, then No. 2 Texas Tech and then No.15 Oklahoma - surprisingly the women, despite having a record of 11-11 (4-7 in the Big 12) have lost a lot of close games and should have a better record then they do - but the truth is with a record like what they have now - its looking like NIT for them -
but......
CONGRATS TO THE CYCLONES MENS AND WOMENS TEAMS FOR KICKING TEXAS ASS THIS WEEKEND!
LOGIC WILL BREAK YOUR HEART - A GUIDE TO 2003s BEST IN MUSIC
- as it is one of my favorite things in the world - music is something i can't live without - so its only fitting that i put in a best of year end list - and its also only fitting that its about one month late - since i can't actually do anything on time -
but the year in music was something of a sorted one - there were lots of great albums put out by known artists but thre were also a lot of brilliant debuts - all in all it was a good surprising year in music - equally...with the good also comes the bad - there were a lot of dissappointing albums released this year - but who cares about things that suck - this is all about the best of the best...
- - - - - Top Ten of 2003 - - - - -
no. 10 - Iron and Wine - Sea & The Rhythm - Even though it is a lo-fi six song E.P. it still beat the shit out of a lot of other bands with major studio production. This is a beautiful folk record which begs to be listened to over and over again. Key Tracks: The Night Descending and Jesus The Mexican Boy
no. 9 - The Darkness - Permission to Land - Retro Rock, an eighties inspired rebirth of rock, the return of hair metal: whatever you decided to call it, The Darkness released one of the freshist, pure rocking, albums of the year. Its sound maybe a bit barrowed but hell it doesn't matter - they do it a whole lot better then most of their contemporaries ever did. Key Tracks: Growing on Me, I Believe in a Thing Called Love and Get Your Hands of My Woman
no. 8 - Belle and Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress - Anything this band puts out is going to most deffinetly make it on to the list. But thank god Struan got it back together and decided to put an end to the democratic ideology that made their last long player Fold Your Hands Child You Walk Like A Pesant a shuffled mess. The production is a bit slick for a B&S album, and i think i even heard that the band didn't like the way it sounded. But hell what can i complain about, with a song like "Step into my office baby," the rest of the album could be white noise and i would love it. Key Tracks: Step into My Office Baby, Piazza, New York Catcher, I'm A Cuckoo and Lord Anthony
no. 7 - Electric Six - Fire - Coming out of Detroit with a style of MC5, the Stoogies and a blend of funk and electronica, Fire by Electric Six is the most insane rock record i have heard in years. The super infectious dance song "Danger! High Voltage!" was completely out of control, especially if you have seen the video for it, you would know. Buy this, buy it NOW!!!! Key Tracks: Dance Commander, Danger! High Voltage! and Gay Bar
no. 6 - The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow - The first album by this New Mexico group was an experience to be had. The second album continued in that liniage by dishing out more of the same with a looser feel. Lush melodies with inspired guitar playing by James Mercer are a dream. Most of the songs just float along as if made for a summers day. I have never seen but i have heard that their live performances mimic their records sound completely. If so...i would love to see these guys in person. Key Tracks: Kissing the Lipless, Young Pilgrims and Saint Simon
no. 5 - Radiohead - Hail To The Theif - Returning with the much anticipated and controversical album. Most people thought that the title of the album refered to the current President of the United States, Mr G.W. Bush. Whether it did or not, no one knows, but what was clear is that Radiohead had once again found out how to rock and rock hard. The first single of the album 2+2=5 was a rockous song that seemed like it could be from The Bends album. The rest of the album then didn't dissappoint. It rolled along nicely using equally parts of rock and electronic based music, which made for a beautiful album. Key Tracks: 2+2=5, Sit down. Stand up. ,Go to Sleep.,There there. and A Punchup at a Wedding.
Side Note: I had the pleasure of seeing them this summer in Alpine Valley, WI and it was an experience i will never forget. From the sheer agressiong of Just to the dancing of Idioteque to the sing-a-long closer Karma Police, they never had a problem. A bit rushed they poured through 18 songs in two and a half hours, but it was the best.
no. 4 - The Decemberists - Castaways and Cutouts - Origonally released in the end of 2002 on a very small independent label in the pacific northwest, this album was rereleased on KillRockStars in 2003, so i am counting it as a 2003 release. The band has a distinct sound which incorperates an accordian into the mix. What comes out is a folky old world blend, like something you would expect to hear if you crossed Western Saloon music with alternative country. Colin Meloy's lyrics are something of an old world poets verse. Colin certianly has a way with words making him one of my favorite lyricists to date. Currently they are heading out on the road again, and i hope to be able to see them in Grinnell, IA. I will deffinetly keep an update if thus does happen. Key Tracks: Leslie Anne Levine, Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect, The Legionnaire's Lament and California One/Youth And Beauty Brigade
no. 3 - Cat Power - You Are Free - Chan Marshall who is Cat Power finally put out another album of origonal music after 5 years off. The wait was well worth it to hear her beautiful voice again. Her songwriting is still minimalist and sparse, but that is the beauty in it. Some guest help from Dave Grohl and Eddie Vedder made the album a little more comercial, but the help they provide is small and doesn't take away from what she does. If anything they are backup performers to her and are only helping out to be apart of something they like. The album is a bit more upbeat then her last Moon Pix, but it is a good change. One worth checking out. Key Tracks: Good Woman, Speak For Me, Fool and Names.
no. 2 - Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism - The best thing to come out of Washington state in a long time. DCfC keeps getting better and better with every album they release. While their sounds keeps progressing ever so slightly, it still remains the same. Lovelorn songs about loss and regret. Transatlanticism is almost like a love letter lead singer Benjamin Gibbard wrote to a lost lover. You can tell the influence The Postal Service has had on Mr. Gibbard, as there are little hints of electronic influence all over this album. But the effect they have is only a positive one. All in all this is the best they have ever done! Key Tracks: New Year, Title And Registration, Tiny Vessels, We Looked Like Giants and Lack Of Color.
no. 1 - The Stills - Logic Will Break Your Heart - Songs about Love and Death clutter this album by a Montreal 4 peice. Within every song, even though a different sound, resounds the same ideals. Love and Death. But its the most honest release i have heard this year. The band has been compared to and even dubed the Interpol of Canada, but the similaraties are few and far between. What they do have in common is a sound remanicent of darker New Wave and a brooding voiced lead singer. Even if people want to compare them to other bands, the songs on Logic have a different feel. They are lose and have a flow to them as if the band is playing them live as we listen. There are not a lot of studio tricks or special effects on this album. Its good and honest all the way. Key Tracks: Lola Stars and Stripes, Gender Bombs, Love and Death
i appologize for the ISU mens basketball game tonight - i don't know what they were thinking - probably nothing from the looks of it......
but it wasn't all that bad - they did actually try for a while - not the whole game - but for a while -
....but in other sadness it is snowing again - and i mean again - we have been sacked with snow for the last two weeks now - and we keep having it in the forcast - oh my god i am SO tired of digging my car out this winter - when the hell is spring coming - ? - anyone?
