Archive song list 1

I have an utterly amazing taste in music. I was told once by someone that I didn't, but that person was wrong.

I'll switch up the playlist from time to time and when I do I'll document the songs that were on here, just in-case you have as incredible taste as I do and you want to explore the bands further.

The Cinematic Orchestra - To build a home (live)
30 Seconds to Mars - Kings and Queens
Damian Rice - The Blowers Daughter
Arcade Fire - Wake up
The Appleseed Cast - A Dream for Us
Iron and Wine Cover - Naked As We Came (yes, that's really the name...)
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Your Guardian Angel

My mind vs. reality

I wander a bit. I've always had daydreams and it's been a goal of every teacher, professor, guardian, etc. to increase my focus for things that are more pragmatic. In my advanced age (thanks, Cole) I've capitulated a bit. I make lists. I have check boxes. I actually do check my check boxes as I knock off tasks. No one has ever seen me check off a box, so I'll aggressively deny that I am that lame if it ever comes up.

It may seem odd then when I tell you that I'm huge on efficiency. On the radio I heard a story about an efficiency expert who acts as a consultant to companies of varying specialties. He'll come in and see what everyone does on a day-to-day basis and he'd make small changes. He turned some people's desks in a different direction. He moved the printer to a more central location. Changes like this saved the company thousands of hours over a year. (there's a side entry here about the more time we save, the more time we burn... but I'll leave that for later) I'd be freaking amazing at this. I lose my **** when I see people on the freeway matching speeds and blocking the throughput of traffic. I die slowly when lazy cars don't move over to the right for faster traffic to pass. I scold myself when I re-enter a room to grab something I forgot.

The best way to explain how I operate is that I work hard and efficiently so I can enjoy the time in my head untethered. When I'm inundated with tasks/goals/alcohol I'm liable to let some things drop. Which is actually one of the main reasons I felt like a blog was a good idea. I could consistently engage here and direct people to this place when they wanted to know what I was up to.


Well, the reason for this post is to explain that I need to be tethered from time to time. (Props to Kristin for coming up with the assist as she reminded/compelled me to make another entry) When I get reeled back into reality, it's kinda like below...


I was sold on the idea that it'd be like...

















However, it feels like...

And yet it's probably most like...

Which, contrary to little man's despondent posture, isn't half bad.

The people in our lives are the best reason to get out of one's head and I rely on peeps to poke me from time to time. Ironically, writing in this blog entails me diving back into my own head --- and that's having your cake and eating it too, folks.

Best. Ad. Ever.

I'm pretty confident most everyone has seen this ad, but it just gets so much better with each subsequent watch.

Defining Irony

(I had a picture of this guy here... but he was too ugly for my blog)

I absolutely love it when something happens that defines irony to the letter. Of course there are many labels to describe the following:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/04/roy-ashburn-arrested-anti_n_485419.html

The value of education

So that's my absolutely adorable niece (and this rat dog. he's been in some movie but I can't place it.) Her name is Ishani and if anyone wants some girl scout cookies on the cheap (like free) holla at cha boy. I bought her way to some prize but I lied and said I wasn't getting them all, but that my friends were. I think the lie was me having friends.

Anyhow, I have a pretty big order of cookies, but the catch is that I'm making her deliver the boxes to my friends. She's a little shy so it'll be good for her.

She's six and normal. A little A.D.D. Very imaginative. Loves Taylor Swift. Well, every couple of weeks when my brother has her I go over during the week to help her with her homework. Education is really important to me. Anyhow, I got back a little while ago and here are her vocabulary words for the week:

Pitch - okay, I guess. Baseball season is around the corner?

Pitcher - alright, so I'm trying to teach her this word and that's kinda hard to do without teaching her about baseball. That did NOT go well. Also, this is a homonym, meaning it can be spelled the same way, pronounced the same way, but mean two or more different things. (cue the "the more you know" music clip) Anyhow, I then tried to use a pitcher of lemonade as an example and it did sit well that a word could mean two different things. Teaching fail... do not try to teach anyone under the age of 12 what a homonym is -- even if you don't use the word, it doesn't end well -- for anyone.

Picture - this is obviously just to trip up the little rugrats (and annoy the piss out of me.) So there I am, trying to get my A.D.D. niece to listen to the distinguishing characteristics of PICK-TURE and PITCH-ER.

Early - fine
Breakfast - good
Ready - great
Eight - sure
Climb - absolutely
Cause - why not
Omit - what the ****.



Seriously? Why? When will be the first time she'll use omit? When was the last time you used omit? Sadly I can remember mine. I was trying to explain its definition to a six-year old.

"it's when something is left out"
"left out of what?" (fair question on her part)
"anything"
"like what?"
"like if i put these cookies back in the package except for this one. that one would be omitted."
"why?" (oh good god)
"why what? why is it called omitted or why did i leave it out?"
"i don't know"
"i don't either..."

Time passes...
"can you just write this word ten times, twice without looking at the word and we'll work on what it means later."
"yep"


This is my nightmare.

Be wary when you play beer pong at Gilligans

Beer pong. Great fun. Doing it at a bar, possibly even better. That is unless you ran into the douche nozzle we ran into on Friday night. This guy was fresh off an 80s bully kick as he had his girl with feathered hair in one arm and challenged us using dramatic motions with his other hand. Think Johnny from Karate Kid part 1... but not anywhere near as badass.

For what a sucktard this guy was, he was a freaking legend on the table. Somehow I gravitated to some side conversation and just got to witness my boys getting blasted. The guy re-tied his sweater around his neck and strolled off, meaning that that it's time to tie a tire to our chests and run up hill. Who says Rocky IV is outdated? My buds, as you can tell from above, turned on one another like the end of Double Dragon.

The one that got away

In the movie Funny People Adam Sandler talks about "the one that got away." He says that guys and serial killers have those.

The missed opportunity probably weighs on both just the same.

I could have settled down with maybe three or so of the girls that I've dated and had been pretty content with life. That's not to say I didn't like the other ones, I think I was rather fond of each of them... most of them... but there were a select few that would linger in my mind longer than the rest. But even then I don't really consider those select few as the girls that may have escaped me.



The one that got away is the girl that you felt something for and you never took a shot. Maybe when you were building up the courage she left with someone else or vomited in her hair. Maybe she ends up with your best friend and you have nothing you can do but write a song about it (looking at you, Rick Springfield.) Or maybe it was a girl with which you just had terrible timing. That there was a strong connection and seemingly the universe conspired to reveal the potential you two had, yet never allowed a situation when you were both single and ready.

The particulars of my current situation I'll leave under wraps, but recently I was reminded of what things in a woman that I truly value by a woman I'll always value. And while I could find plenty of people to pass time with and share a life with, there are a certain few aspects of a relationship that make it much more meaningful.

Or maybe she just needs to be really, really hot.