how to get to Chicago while trying very hard

I made it to Chicago. It is a wonderful city. I am using someone else's computer, so no pictures or anything fun. Here is a summary of my trip pulled from myspace bulletins I was able to post while on the road. My shitty phone could access myspace, but not blogger. Strange. Enjoy. (I was going to clean up the spelling and everything, but this is more exciting.)

Dec 26, 2007 11:37 PM - i'm in bosie!
it is 1230 bosie time and i am sitting in a bus terminal. Bosie doesn't seem to be very awesome, but at least i'm not one of the poor folks waiting. there is no room on our bus and greyhound apparently likes to over sell. i don't know if it's the awesome lighting or what, but the world looks sad here. the buses are running about two hours behind, so i'll probably miss my transfer in denver tomorrow at 6pm. if you live there send me your number, i might need someone to drink with.

Dec 27, 2007 7:20 AM - salt lake city - homeless lady on the bus!
Someone gave a homeless lady a ticket, maybe. She has too much stuff to be homeless, so i think she just talks outloud a lot! We're supposed to be out of here at 730, and i think its 8 right now. There has been rumours about wyoming being fucked by snow, so we might be here a while. Greyhound is like the government, it doesn't tell you much, and he it does it's probably a lie. Anyone live here? I need a beer!

Dec 28, 2007 12:42 AM - and with that, the hero's journey changes suddenly
Apparently it snows in december. So much so that the entity known as greyhound has decided to send no busses east or north for at least 24 hours. From denver i still have 22 hours left on a bus. So instead of staying with the pigs in the sty and possibly missing the bears game sunday, i bought a plane ticket. Yup, the bus journey is over. It was better and worse than i had hoped. Expect a full recap when i can use a real keyboard and not my phone. I now must kill 5 hours in an airport. Easy!

Dec 28, 2007 9:19 AM - 36 HOURS, 3 TIME ZONES
i typed that and got that lip gloss song stuck in my head. strange. anyways, i'm in columbus ohio. they tried to land in chicago, but it was too awesome. so here i am. pretty much my life has turned into a holiday travel movie. the guy sitting next to me right now is big like john candy ;)

a very complete list of airports visited in 2007

in chronological order (repeats not shown)

• Burbank, CA
  
• Oakland, CA
  
• Seattle, WA
  
• Redmond, OR
  
• Eugene, OR
• San Francisco, CA
• Ontario, CA
• Tampa, FL
• Orlando, FL
• Los Angeles, CA
• Dallas, TX
  
• Salt Lake City, UT
• Denver, CO
• Columbus, OH
  
• Chicago, IL (Midway)

I think that is it. What a year for flying. Going to try to hit some new ones in 2008. Any suggestions?

pressed for time

As referenced in the title, I am pressed for time.

I'm on my way to sell my car, then to the airport, then to oregon.

When I get there I'll feel in all those holes of the last few weeks.

I love you.

a farewell to peppers

Oh peppers, how you made my days go by, how you filled my pockets, how you helped my middle class attempts at smashing the state. You made me drinking buddies and bowling friends. You brought people to sing with in karaoke bars. Dry-run-thru's of taxes were done at your bar. Surprise visits to lovers too. Peppers you were the backdrop to some of the best and worse days. To some spirited debates and colorful outbursts. You let me outlast more than I should, but I go before many others who should already be gone.

So here's to you peppers, to the people that you let me meet, the beliefs you reinforced, the money you allowed me to make, and the friends I will never forget, even though they have already started to forget me. Thank you for these folks - Whit, Tricia, Miska, Carey, Juan, Randy, Tommie, Kelly, Red, Louis, Harper, Wayne, Bryan, Anderson, Keisha, Sam, Heidi, Donna, Deanna, Ashley, All the hosts with their sexy teenage butts, Vicki, Gina, Kevin, everyone I ever drank with, everyone I ever made fun of, and everyone I will never miss.

Peppers, You hardly knew me.

a little request

I don't know who still reads this. I had a punk rock principles attack a few months ago and took off all the tracking information. "you don't blog for other people, you blog for yourself." I don't know how many visitors I get, I don't know where they come from, and I don't know where they go after. It's ok. The traffic and my quality of posts were both on a steady decline.

So to the few people who read this, I would like to ask a favor...

a mix.

I'm going to be spending two days on a bus to Chicago. I am talking a discman, because I am old school.

So if you could make me a mix and email it or post it or just send me the list of songs, that would be awesome.

And in return I'll promise not to die and I'll put more stuff up.

Deal?

Deal.

lancaster sends me off, without even trying

It finally happened. I have been going to these parties for years. There had been cross words thrown around, idle threats in passing cars leaving the scene, to maybe, or maybe not, mingle at another place or time, but tonight, it happened. I stood in a living room drinking a beer. I used to live at the house, and now it seems a lot longer than the two years it was. And a guy almost got beat up. He had pulled a knife before, or twice. And why not tonight? Who knows, but I'm glad he didn't. A friend was involved in the scene. It was a fucking shame. A cycle that doesn't seem to come close to ending. Not on nights like these, in these homes, in a town so dead, or dying.

And the Antelope Valley put on it's best clothes. It has been doing it all week. The people I served ribs to at Peppers. The girls I talked to at bars. The christmas lights that didn't burn as bright as before. All the kids who showed up at this house on a friday night. To drink free beer. To smoke others drugs. To start fights that shouldn't have happened. No one here walks away.

But I do.

things i would rather be doing then going to work

which is what I am doing.

bikes. music. fun.

dead to me - special professional

what i did last christmas

I spent part of the day drinking beer with bill and whit, then some gin. There's Christmas beginnings happening in the living room and I'm sitting in my room debating between whiskey and soda and whiskey and ice. The soundtrack is a collections of songs recorded in about 12 hours over one Saturday. We consumed a lot of drinks, some of us fell asleep early, and we all recorded an original and a Christmas cover. We put it on the internet. Marleigh was kind enough to do some art for it. If you aren't doing anything in the next few days, get a bottle of something sip-able and check out our efforts. A year removed, a lot of it is sad. Sorry, it is Christmas after all.It's a Wonderful Lie - A Drunken Bicycle Christmas - http://drunkbike.com/lie.zip

things are falling into place

As of today, december 6th, at 2:06, I have a plane ticket to oregon, a bus ticket to chicago, and an apartment to move into in logan square. To say I am happy is an understatement.

And my crazy 85 year old grandmother thinks I am gay.

Good thing she doesn't know how to use the internet, she might think I love machines!

the secret life of woman

this has been rattling inside my head for a couple of days.


One, two, three. A midori sour. A bud light. A lemonade for the pregnant friend. Ten children between the three women sitting at my table, but those kids are somewhere else. It might be eleven, I can't tell when they think it's life or not. Husbands being stay at home dads, at least for the evening, at least by the look on the rings on their left hands. Another midori sour, sides of ranch for the table. They giggle and smile and swear like sailors. They talk shit about another lady, about an ex husband, about the government. Another midori sour, more bud light. Flirty comments about after work Saturday night plans. Elbow touches and subtle winks. No more drinks, more laughing. Cash on the table and cash in my hand. Back to the car seats and formal living rooms that see no living. Back to families. Back to the responsibility, the doctor visits, the tax man. Back to the medications, back to preschools, back to happiness, of a different kind. The secret life of these women is over for now, an hour or so of distraction left like a french fry in a bucket of ranch. We have more in common than we know.

to california to texas witha belly full of whiskey

In twelve hours, I will be in an airplane. It will have been in the air for probably an hour. I will be trying to convince Bill to drink something silly with me. It will be like most thursdays.

We are going to Dallas, to hang out with my Dad and StepMom, to attend the impending slaughter of the packers by the cowboys (GO BEARS!), to drink lone star, to celebrate my stepmom's birthday, and thanksgiving, and christmas.

If you aren't doing anything tomorrow night, and you are lucky enough to get the nfl network, watch the game. We'll be sitting in section 101, seats 3,4,5 and 6. We might show up for field goals. We made shirts tonight. My parents get cowboy colors. Bill and mine are Orange and Blue. They say:

"Tank's Gun Club"

Go BEARS!

i put 25 years of living into 3 days.

Friday - up by 10, drinks by 11, lunch with whit, shots, beer, football, beer and pizza, shots, beer, shots, karaoke, shots, beer! bed by 3:30

Saturday - up by 6:45, yard sale, pizza, beer, brandy, beer, shots, hip hop, beer, shots, dancing, beer, shots, beer, party, more party, more dancing, more beer! bed by 3:00

Sunday - up by 8:45, little cleaning, mimosas, football, beer, pizza, BEARS!, beer, fries, beer, coffee with whiskey and kahlua, grilled cheese, football, beer, bed by 12:30.

My body is close to being recuperated. Of course I drank some beers and jager and watched football. I have today off, not from work, but from being awesome, and then it should all pick back up tomorrow.

The move is coming up pretty fast. Working on roommates or rooms and jobs and everything. Its going to be very exciting. I got about 5 weeks till I'm out of here.

I'm going to take a long shower. I might be filthy.

I put a bunch of pictures on the old flickr, from the party and florida.

check it - http://www.flickr.com/photos/iambooth/

a few songs for me on my birthday - mix

So I put together these songs because I like them a lot. I hope you enjoy them too.

Now I must go convince my roommates to do a sake bomb with me.


a few songs for me on my birthday - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=E7FHT467

The Disaster March - The Lawrence Arms
Love Story - Lagwagon
Anchor - Osker
You Must Be Willing - Against Me!
Hollywood Cemetery - Strike Anywhere
Little Dawn - Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
Fuck You Larry Koesche, I Hope You Starve And Die Someday - The Broadways
Your Child Is Dead - Off With Their Heads
Sun Belt Scars - Banner Pilot
A Song With No Words - Burning Airlines
jack of all trades - Hot Water Music
Always Have, Always Will - The Impossibles
Anchorless - Propagandhi
Broadway - Pteradon

five hours...

I should be at work. They are assholes. We all know this. Instead I am counting the minutes to midnight.

Lately I have taken to referring to my birthday as the end of my life.

It's funny, but not the case.

Things will only get more exciting and awesome.

I'll do my best to keep this place up to date the next couple days. Pictures, recaps, guest posts, whatever!

I'll be putting a mix tomorrow. I haven't decided what will be on it, but it will be good.

If you are bored you should make one too. Or send me something to put up here. Or do a shot in celebration.

Or hump a volkswagen...

the neverending battle of will and want

the want: a pile of my possessions in the desert catching fire.
the will: a dirty bedroom floor.

the want: a single-finger salute to my bosses.
the will: a reverse goatee.

the want: writing new songs and singing them in circles with friends.
the will: practice? are we talking about practice?

the want: a family dinner.
the will: fake chicken, plastic plates, dr pepper.

the want: more life moments from john cusack movies.
the will: more life moments from a bootlegged movie.

the want: more.
the will: less.

Pepper's Hates Beards

Saturday I was told to shave off my beard for work. That I couldn't have it anymore. The same beard I had when I was hired, and when I worked at the pepper's in sacramento, the same beard I had for almost the whole time I worked there. SO saturday they told me I had to get rid of it.

Right before my birthday.

Motherfuckers.

So this is what they get!

4 more days.

choose or loose

Does MTV still do that? I know they don't show videos anymore, and they cast maid of honors for reality weddings, and they continue to perpetuate stereotypes that lead to affluent white kids having shittily themed parties. (And I gladly leave my birthday plans out of that one. Seriously. How many of those bastard kids know about the five percent nation? That's what I thought. Besides, drinking a forty isn't ironic, its cheap.)

Now that is out of the way. Karaoke songs.

I have been trying to figure out what karaoke song would "do it for me". Its a good question. As mentioned previously, I am not super excited when a woman sings some sort of woman empowerment song. Not because I am anti-women's liberation. But because I don't want to hear a woman scorned singing a song by a woman scorned about being a woman scorned. Call me old fashioned.

When I karaoke, I like to sing songs by women. To some segment of the crowd it's shocking. Maybe. Probably not. But it opens the door to theatrics more than a korn song. Most songs by guys are warbly and screamy and growly, and I am not good at those things. I'm not even good at singing. It is easier to stumble through a song by a lady because my vocal gymnastics are limited.

So I think the criteria for a song that would do it for me would be this. Anthemic. Not too short. A breakdown. And by a member of the opposite sex. So if you really want to get me, you should probably brush up on your meatloaf. And if you want to get your shy friend to duet with you on "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", well, I might have to buy the two of you breakfast. ;)

whose excited for a quarter life crisis?

I am definitely. On the 16th, I will be aged 25. I am looking forward to it. Not as much as 27 and the whole return of saturn thing, but 25 will do for a year. I basically just wanted to show off the flyer I made for the festivities. If you're interested, show up!

my first sin was a young american girl

A couple of days ago Bill and I hung out. We got my money back on a car battery, we had lunch, we went shopping. Our shopping consisted of a single stop at a LEVI outlet. I bought some pants, some skinny jeans, something I have been enjoying lately. Bill bought some pants too. I knew the girl who rang up our purchases.

It was Kimmy Martinez. The first girl I ever kissed.

And by kissed, I mean kissed. Behind a church, after a youth church meeting; tongue, teeth and erections.

(For the longest time when I was making out, I was aroused. It still happens today. Some women inspire the hardest erections with the slightest touch. I am fourteen.)

So there she was, working part or full time at a retail establishment that saw less than 35 customers a day. And she looked the same, how I remembered her. Her body was slimmer, her face was the same. I caught her looking at me the way she periodically did back then; head down a little, eyes pushed up as high as possible, as if she was a librarian looking over her reading glasses. For a second I was thrown back to those days, being 14, knowing nothing about women, but wanting to know everything. I wondered what it would be like to kiss her now, but that thought soon left with the realization that it could never happen again, and it shouldn't.

See, she has a boyfriend, and a child, and what would appear to be a full time job. Her parents live in San Francisco, one brother is married, one is toiling away in a horrible band, at least the last I heard that was the case.

And me...

Some ways I am the same. Parents in different places. In some ways I am different. No children, no siblings, no significant other.

So we said goodbye. Said it was good to see each other. Said we hoped to see each other again.

And that was probably the biggest lie of them all.

For Hilly: of Scorpios and Blogging - MIX

Yesterday was Hilly's birthday. I didn't go have brunch with her. I didn't tell her I couldn't make it. I didn't send her an e-card. I didn't send her a real card. I didn't do anything to actually acknowledge it was her birthday. So here is a mix for her, on the occasion of being old enough to drink in bars. You're 21, right?

Sidenote. I don't watch Grey's Anatomy. Apparently one of these songs was on it. Whatever. Fuck TV. My friend told me about it and I think it's good. So there.

So celebrate Hilly's birthday with me. At 5:00pm pacific I will do a shot in her honor. You should too.

For Hilly: of Scorpios and Blogging - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0W3WV5GY
The Navasink Banks - Gaslight Anthem
Secret Letters - Erin Tobey
For Esme - Jawbreaker
Modern Love - The Last Town Chorus
A Sunday - Jimmy Eat World
Wait At Milano - Tim Barry
Fear and Tera and Scarlet O'hara - Dan Padilla
Old College Try - The Mountain Goats
Overkill - Dashboard Confessional
The Temperature is Dropping - Defiance, Ohio
Uncorrected Proofs - The Weakerthans