May 26th, 2004 12:57 hours CST currently listening to: "Deterior" by Auburn Lull.

I'm in a VERY strange mood right now. This is my personal version of being on drugs. Or rather, this is what I think it feels like to be on drugs when you're me. I had an absolutely huge diet coke, then I walked outside and the weather is incredible. It's chilly. Jacket weather. Not hot and humid. I went into Tower and glanced through the new issue of Playboy. Charisma Carpenter is the centerfold. Her pictures are beautiful. I walk outside some more, wondering why I didn't buy the magazine. I'm now at my desk with the blinds down and an eerie light is coming through the window since it's cloudy out and the sun is trying to get through. I'm listening to the new Auburn Lull album which is absolutely wonderful. Now all I need is lips to kiss. Or to catch the odor of a girls hair after it's been washed with some expensive smelling shampoo. Maybe for someone female to call me on the phone, not knowing at all who she is and have her tell me she loves me, in a hushed and sensuous tone. Where on earth is this coming from?

May 24th, 2004 13:15 hours CST currently listening to: "The Best Thing" by Ivy.

Weekend was pretty crazy. Well, it started crazy anyway. I picked up my Fender Jag from the repair shop and while I was there, the amp repair shop phoned me and told me that my Fender Twin was finished, so I went to pick that up as well. Now, this is all in Wriggleyville and a freaking Cubs game just got out, so it took me a long time to get anywhere. In fact, it took me close to an hour to get down Irving Park road from Clark all the way to the highway. I made it up to the practice space a little after 7, dropping off my amp and picking up my pedal board and one of my Rickenbackers. The rain came pouring down most of the way home. I had enough to time to change my shirt and eat some soup before I headed over to Griff's. We found out at 9:30 the night before that we were playing at his party.

The party was created very last minute and it was to avoid Griff from getting evicted because his former roommate was two months late in paying rent. Sour Deluxe was supposed to play at 9:30, but who the hell goes to a party at 9:30? So they played closer to 10:45 and shuffled out the door promptly after packing their gear. We only got to play 2 songs (World Cup and the new version of 500 Deep) before we had to shut down. The orthodox Jew next door apparently practices on Friday nights and screamed at Griff's landlord. Griff has huge parties there all the time, but I guess they have to draw the line at live bands. We hung around for a while and I bumped into Ayca and Lisa outside while loading Cory's gear. I gave them a ride to Lava Lounge but didn't go in, as I was in a crap mood and just wanted donuts and sleep.

Saturday was pretty laid back. I did a lot of cleaning and made beef stew. I have become addicted to beef stew. Now even though I so cook, this is somewhat prefab beef stew. You cook the beef and then add a powder mix of dehydrated carrots, potatoes and other things. I realized that I'd previously been using only half the amount of beef than the recipe calls for, so now the thing is loaded with beef. Rock on. I went across the hall to Mischa's and Heather came over and we watched CQ, which I'd been wanting to see for a long time. I loved it. It was very cute and the main actor looked a lot like me, except he's perfectly skinny with perfect hair and suits and all that crap. Asshole. Anyway.

Sunday was also lazy. I finally started playing Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow for the Xbox and could not stop playing it. I paused now and then to do laundry and I also cleaned up my bedroom, which really needed it. I gave into my laziness and ordered a Hawaiian pizza and finally watched "The Apartment" which Dave had lent me months ago. Ok, this movie was very strange. Made in 1960, it stars Jack Lemon and Shirley MacLaine. The movie is filled with the most despicable characters known to man. Jack Lemon plays a spineless pushover to his fleet of whoring white male executive bosses so that he can climb the corporate ladder. Shirley MacLaine plays a woman involved with a married man and she attempts to commit suicide when she finally clues into the fact that all of his talk about leaving his wife and children is all bullshit. Seriously, this movie pissed me off. Possibly because I identified with Jack Lemon's character too many times. He's perpetually single, obsessed with an unavailable girl and he can't be honest until it's too late. Pissed me off all over. I was really surprised with how open this film was about all the cheating and marital infidelity going on, considering the time period. The only likeable character who doesn't make you want to go on a killing spree is the stereotypical Jewish doctor who lives next door. He's the only one out of all these characters who has an operating brain and does things out of compassion without an ulterior motive. At least Shirley MacLaine was really damn cute in this movie.

May 21st, 2004 10:20 hours CST currently listening to: "Idiot Country" by Electronic.

I don't know if it's this weird HP keyboard I'm using or what, but I can't type for shit lately. I've become a full fledged retard while chatting. Typos and misspellings are flying out of me from every pore.

I went to Dark Room last night with Mischa. It was fun. Got to hang out with David and Seth. I haven't seen Seth in ages. It's good to see David outside of the studio. Ayca and Lisa were there and were as cute as ever. *sigh*

In other news:

Most of you know Griff, but some of you don't. He's an awesome guy and he throws fantastic parties. This one has a slightly serious tone to it, however. Thanks to his former roommate, Griff will be evicted on Saturday if he doesn’t raise $1200 by then, so….. There's a $5 cover at the door. It would be a crime against humanity if Griff lost this loft.

Local guitar rockers, Sour Deluxe are playing around 9:30, followed by Darren from The Changes. Then we take the stage around 11:00. We're playing some revamped versions of our songs and we're finally playing 500 Deep, so you HAVE to be there for that. It sounds really damn cool since we mixed it up.

9pm is when this thing gets going. 1310 N. Milwaukee #4 (Milwaukee and Paulina) Baron/Tepps on buzzer. $5 at the door (donations also accepted) . First drink is free, after that: $1 beers $2 mixed drinks Shots are FREE.

OH! One more thing: This loft is really damn big, but it gets rather warm, so just be prepared. Girls, wear something skimpy. Guys, uh, we're all pretty much screwed. Sorry.

See you tonight!!!

May 18th, 2004 14:55 hours CST currently listening to: "Haunted Days" by Trembling Blue Stars.

You know, I've learned something today. It doesn't matter if your penis is small, or you need to refinance your next mortgage or consolidate your debts or reconfirm your paypall account information. Junk mail loves you know matter what your problem is. We could all learn something from junk mail.

May 18th, 2004 08:55 hours CST currently listening to: "The Beautiful Ones" by Suede.

There is no emoticon for "jabbing someone with an animal cracker". There should be.

May 17th, 2004 10:25 hours CST currently listening to: "Back To Dangerous" by Zelienople.

Weekend was pretty good. I fell asleep on my couch around 9 and woke up at like 11:30 a complete zombie. So that's why I wasn't out that night despite rumors that I was ousting al of you in favor of Xbox Live. Not that I really would have a problem with that. Xbox live isn't filled with empty beer calories and cigarette smoke. Heheh. Saturday was super low key. I bought a new trash can from Target with a cool lid on it. This should keep Stella from getting to my discarded q-tips, which is, really damn gross. On the subject of Stella, I took new pictures of her yesterday. Her back is so much better! Here are the pictures. Beware that some of them are pretty damn gross. The scar area that looks like won't have any hair is about the length of my pinky finger, but you only really notice a small bit of that. Once the hair fully grows in, it will be hard to notice. Now I just gotta slap my bill on the fuckers over at the Tree House for burning my cat.

I took a quick scooter ride down to Wicker Park to get a hot dog. It was chilly even in the sun, but it was a beautiful day and I just needed to get on my scooter. Mischa and Heather came over that night to watch fight club and chow on some tasty Hawaiian pizza. I kind of felt like going out but I also didn't so I ended up just chatting all night long. But hey, at least I wasn't spending money on lots of alcohol.

Sunday was very nice. I got on my scooter and rode over to the Gold Coast and gave CD's to Lisa. I then rode up and down Michigan Ave and that area and took pictures for a little project I'm working on. The weather was outstanding. I got lots of smiles from the tourists in the Magnificent Mile area. On the way back I was in front of a couple of motorcycle guys who both gave me the nod and I returned it. Then, at the next intersection, I fucking stalled out trying to get into 1st. Fucking embarrassing. I didn't turn around to see if they laughed. Oh, and The Jesus and Mary Chain makes GREAT scooter riding music. I listened to Automatic and then Barbed Wire Kisses.

May 14th, 2004 10:35 hours CST currently listening to: "Love Is 1968" by Beaumont.

Wow, I've been journal-crazy this week. I made a well calculated decision to stay in last night, despite the send-off for Katja at Rain-blow last night. I picked up my newly re-tubed AC-30 after work. 11 brand new Sovtek tubes in that baby. She better sound awesome on Sunday's practice. If so, I'll take my Fender Twin in there to have the same treatment.

I made a terrific meal last night. Garlic ginger marinated chicken breasts and steamed green beans with strawberry sorbet for desert. I really missed cooking. I just hate doing dishes afterwards. That's one thing I miss about having a roommate, or rather, dinner companions. Whoever cooks doesn't have to do the dishes.

DJ had Heather over at his place and he wanted to show her Xbox Live, so he called me up and I set up a few Crimson Skies games. She's pretty awful and managed to kill herself in Chicago by flying into buildings a lot. Stella did one of her "I need to be in the living room RIGHT NOW" dashes from the kitchen. She ran across me, snagged the headset cord and sent that thing flying. DJ was very confused as to what I was yelling about over the headset.

I dunno what's going on this weekend. There's the standard first Friday of the month thing at Lava Lounge. I'm getting pretty burned out on this crowded bar scene. I may hit Club Foot instead since I haven't been there in ages.

May 13th, 2004 09:45 hours CST currently listening to: "Love Spreads" by The Stone Roses.

I'm so sleepy today. I don't know why I'm getting addicted to sleep. It's weird. Band practice last night was pretty cool. We started another song. Damn, it's great. I went to Smartbar afterwards. Hope, Hannah, Kerry, Griff, Ayca, Lisa and Christine were in attendance. Not a whole lot went on. I left around 1-ish or something and devoured a hotdog on the way home. I don't know why I'm getting into hotdogs either. DJ is now on Xbox Live and he's in love with it. Hannah, we gotta get you hooked up!

May 12th, 2004 14:45 hours CST currently listening to: "Beef Jerky" by Cibo Matto.

The last two days of work were complete sweaty hell. Virus patching and computer moves were all I did that day, but at least I didn't have to run this time. I crawled to my car afterwards and took my Jag and my AC-30 in for repairs. I came home, reheated some stew, watched one episode of Futurama ("I, Roommate") and went to sleep for 9 and a half hours. I am a new man.

DJ is getting on Xbox Live tonight. I supplied him with a 50 ft ethernet cable, as his modem and Xbox are on opposite sides of his apartment. He'll only be the 2nd person I know that's on there. Cory doesn't have a broadband connection and Hannah is broke. Mischa told me that he may be getting his brother's so he'll be on there in short order once that happens. So, if anyone once to play with me, my tag is S0niqe. That's a zero and not a capital O.

May 11th, 2004 11:25 hours CST currently listening to: "What We've Won" by Blue States.

Wow, yesterday was crazy. Dave was out on vacation and I got completely swamped at work. We got hit with something other than sasser and gaobot. I was literally running up and down the halls here with CDR's I made with patches on them, rapidly pulling network cables out of computers even while their users were still on the phone with clients. I damn near ran over Lisa Formissano. I rounded a corner and she screamed when she saw me and I brushed by her yelling "sorry!" a bunch of times. Michael shouted from his office humorously "when IT is running down the hallway, that's never a good sign". I was a sweaty mess by the end of the day. I was here until around 7:30, talking to the network team at our headquarters. VNC is a fantastic utility. I came home and reheated some of the beef stew I'd made the day before and took a much needed nap on the couch.

Still feeling the need to unwind, I called up "lil ms trouble" and we went over to Danny's for a few drinks. I like Danny's a lot, but they mix some weak-ass drinks, man. At 4 bucks a piece, I should be getting a lot less ice in my glass. Anyway. I met Christine, who became an airiel fan overnight. I sold her CD's and gave her some buttons and we talked about band ambitions and the like. She's nice and easy to talk to. Trouble and I went to the California Clipper, which was damn near deserted. One last drink and we called it a night.

So far today is more of the same. Viruses everywhere, but at least this time I'm not running at a full clip through a jungle of cubicles.

May 10th, 2004 08:40 hours CST currently listening to: "Gods Cop" by The Happy Mondays.

During a very busy Friday at work, Becker, DJ and I decided to meet up at DJ's that night for some much needed decompression. Vis a vis, video games, pizza and beer. That's mother's milk these days. Possibly explains why I'm 5 pounds heavier than I'd like to be. But enough vanity. I think DJ hates it that I'm suddenly good at Halo and that I outright kick his ass in Crimson Skies. I seriously don't try to rub things in. When I shout and stuff when I blow somebody away, it's not in a "oh man you suck/what you do is a crime against video games" kind of way. It's more of an outburst of personal achievement, but at one point he did call me a "sore winner". Yeah, well, you're a crybaby. Becker never made it over because he was still at the office repairing machines that got hit with Sasser. I hate McAffee. Why we switched to that from Trend Micro is beyond me. Anyway. Eric came over after DJ and I gorged on a Hawaiian pizza and watched Battle Royale 2. Eric was awesome at Crimson Skies and we really had a good time. I think we were there 'til around 2 AM.

Saturday was pretty laid back. I didn't do much during the day beyond getting much needed groceries and an accessory for my iPod that I'm very disappointed in. I got that car charger/FM transceiver that Monster makes. Perhaps it's just that I have a weak antenna, or this thing has terrible broadcasting power, but the audio quality was COMPLETE SHIT. It's a fantastic idea, but poorly executed. Later that night, Mischa and I rode scooters down to Webster Place and saw Van Helsing. Now, this movie is being either hailed or completely trashed, and I myself had very low expectations, but it's SO MUCH FUN. From the black and white intro to the very last shot of Frankenstein's Monster, I loved this movie. In all honesty, the weakest part of the whole thing is Hugh Jackman. Not because of his acting, which is, well, a little vanilla, but he honestly comes off as a minor character in his own story. There's so much going on, that you don't really care about his back-story, but he doesn't come off as some macho, gun wielding kill-freak, which could have happened. Forget Underworld. Kate Beckinsale has never looked hotter and Dracula's brides were a vampire-lover's masturbation fantasy extreme. Even though they only list 3 monsters in all the ads, there is a 4th one in the film. I don't want to spoil it and don't go reading the credits at IMDB. But go see this movie. Just sit back and have fun with it.

After the movie, we split off and I went straight to Griff's place for his Birthday party, entitled "Fuck 23, it's not as cool as 21. There's 2 links for pictures there. Griff is in every single one, I think. He rocked out with his tiara. I love that guy to death. He's just fun to be around and has a blast at parties, especially when they're his own. Next time he has one, I want to be a DJ. I met some new people and had a blast with a good group of friends. Mischa broke the hanging swing seat. He landed flat on his ass. He wasn't really doing anything weird on it. It just fucking fell out of the ceiling. He got a round of applause. I took Kerry home on my scooter. She lives all the way up in Rogers park and while the night seemed chilly at first, there's something about riding with a chick behind you who's wearing a skirt and go-go boots that makes you forget about the cold. My ride home was fantastic. I'm finding myself throwing that thing into 4th gear a lot these days. I was prolly going 55 mph down Western Ave at one point or two.

I didn't do much on Sunday. I should have gone to the gym but my gym clothes were all in the hamper. I installed my air conditioners though. I seriously think I'll by a third one this year. My electric bill is gonna suck ass. I really want to hit the gym hard and lose some weight. I should have gone. Meh. Band practice was pretty good, but Adam wasn't there. Since my AC-30 is in the shop, I plugged into my Fender Twin and Adams' Fender 1x12, which is at eye level and sounded awesome.

**UPDATE** Hope jsut sent me her pics from Griff's party. These rock.

May 6th, 2004 09:05 hours CST currently listening to: "Addicted" by The Assassins.

I somehow messed up my left shoulder pretty good on Sunday either during my workout or more likely when I was hauling around band gear back to the practice space. It hurts like hell when I have a guitar strapped to me. :(

I got hooked up to Xbox Live last night. I love it. This should be the last nail in my social coffin. You can immediately tell who has a better network connection simply by the quality of their headset audio. I played several rounds of dog fighting in Crimson Skies and had a damn good time. I usually came out around the C to B rating. I'll get better. I can't wait for DJ to get on there.

There hasn't been a lot going on this week. I've been working out as often as I can. I should be taking Rachel out to dinner tonight because I haven't seen her in a while. Hopefully we'll go see a movie and have ourselves a pretend date. Now if only I could have a real date with someone sometime soon. On the subject of dates, my friend Kacey is going with me to Heather and Shawn's wedding. I'm so excited for this. I haven't seen most of these people in a year at the least. It's going to be great. Sure, I'm going there to support Shawn and Heather but I still plan on getting trashed with my friends. I promised Heather that I wouldn't try to put out a bug fire using a beer. Lesson learned. Man I was so embarrassed about that.

Not sure what I'm doing tomorrow night yet. The weather is supposed to be total crap for the next day, so I won't be getting on my scooter any time soon. That sucks. I wanted to ride to Griff's party on Saturday night. Mischa and I have plans to go see Van Helsing before that. Seals gave it a very good review and I usually trust his judgment, though I'm still keeping my expectations very low for this movie.

May 3rd, 2004 09:35 hours CST currently listening to: "Sharron Apple" by airiel.

Shit. I just realized that the mp3's for Kiss Me Slowly and Stratosphere are clipping. Why don't you fekkin people tell me these things?!??! I have a huge smile on my face right now. It's amazing how one simple phone call can make you feel fantastic. Doesn't matter if the English is broken or not, it was still lovely.

The weekend was pretty tame by my standards. I picked up Aric for this S&M thing at Vision which turned out to be really boring. Miguel and his girlfriend showed up and I managed to get Hannah down there. We at least took major advantage of the free bar from 10-11 but realized that even though Aric like's it that I'm always on time, we actually arrived TOO early and had to go play video games downstairs while listening to the fucking Steve Miller band. Bleh. Anyway, Hannah and I split around 1 AM and went back to her place and played Halo. Her roommates made me feel like I'm 40. Or maybe it's because I know they're all hovering just over 21 and I'm just scared of getting older.

I did almost nothing on Saturday. No, really. I never left the house. I didn't do laundry. I didn't clean up the place. I sat on the couch and played Crimson Skies until I beat it and then guess what? I played it all over again. It's a great game, damnit. I need to get an XBOX Live account real quick. I've been looking for an excuse to not go out to so many smoke-filled bars anyway, so maybe this will be my solution.

Sunday was the opposite of Saturday. I was busy from the start. I had a great and rather long workout at the gym and then came back and cooked lunch and did laundry. Then I had to break down my pedal board and load all my gear into my car and go up to practice. I was so tired at practice that I wasn't playing very well. I should have left my VOX AC-30 at home because I really need to get it fixed. It's making the weirdest noises.