Well I can finally sit down and write this without fear of ignoring the 500 pound gorilla over there in the corner. We all know what happened, I have nothing useful to add, so I'm not even going to try. Let me just say this, to anyone who has lost someone, I'm so sorry. Hopefully it won't be in vain. Normally I'd feel like Velveeta for saying this but not now...God Bless America

Normally this is the part of the post where I talk about how work is work...change...I've been on vacation for all but like 5 days. So nice to recharge the batteries. Went to Chicago to see Mr. Day...incredible as ever, especially Night 2...the crowd was so into it and it just fed Howie, lots of stories, crowd interaction and goofing off. To top it off the songs were SO tight, it just amazes me that they can be so much better than even 24 hours before. As for the openers, I'm a Matt Nathanson convert...buy his CDs NOW...I guarantee you will find something you will love. Three words: Bon Jovi cover (Living on a Prayer) and I quote: Feel your inner mullet. "Miracles" and "More Than This" are two of the best songs I've ever heard. Ryan Cabrera, gotta love a kid that plays in sandals barefoot and can pull off a damn fine Mayer cover. His original stuff is great too...I didn't get a chance to pick up the cd or say Hi since he left early, but I would've. My only knock would be that his songs bled into covers at the end and he needs to work on his own stuff to get REALLY good. (I feel like such an armchair quarterback since I can't even play a friggin guitar, but I'm right)...I was very impressed. If either of you guys read this (yeah right, I know) I was the guy with the crutches...Mike. Thanks for 2 great sets. Howie: DAMN man, how do you keep getting better?

Good news, Worm is no longer MIA Very happy about that. Finally saw Memento you HAVE to see this movie. I can't go into any detail about it, way too twisted, and I'd have to break a cardinal rule to do it. [Never give away plot twists in a movie!] First DVD I ever bought without seeing the movie somewhere else first...well worth it. I'm re-reading Neuromancer for the millionth time, found the current screenplay online and I hate it so one of these days I'll take matters into my own hands...website to follow. The book is a masterpiece, it deserves to be done almost verbatim...nuff said.

That's about all I've got right now except to say that I've started therapy for my legs. I feel good that I actually took the initiative to start back up, it does wonders for my legs. It definitely hurts a bit though [a bit = 8 on a scale of 10], I didn't realize how tight my legs were. But if you've ever wondered if physical therapists have a sense of humor here's what the screensaver on their computer says, "Pain & Torture" I kid you not...how beautiful is that?? Doug's been great so far though, can't ask for much better.

Now I'm really done...nothing to add...see ya in a while. Later...

PS: I like key lime pie

For the record I have not neglected my blog, my ISP had some ports blocked because of Code Red I'm guessing so I couldn't see my site...looks like it's working now though. Starting 9 days of vacation tomorrow...not doing a damn thing, but sometimes that's the best kind of vacation. To touch base with the last post...Edwin was great, but not "marvy" unless of course he played everything I wanted to hear after we left, probably did with the double...yes I said double encore...shit! We left early for several reasons, none of which I'm gonna bring up...

Work is still work, my new motto is SSDD, y'all know what it stands for, and all I can say is, "I like the *people* I work with"...that should speak volumes. We had our VP of Stores come visit the other day and all went well so I'm happy about that...hopefully we'll see a new store before too long, but if I were holding my breath I'd be dead by now....one can hope.

Musically it's more Mayer, some DMB, and Nickel Creek...damn fine musicians those guys. Threw in some Crows (the Counting kind), some Traveler (the Blues kind), and some Ani (the DiFranco kind) for color...makes me a happy guy. Seeing Howie in September and Nickel Creek/Glen Phillips in October...should be great.

That's all I got, just wanted to give this page CPR before it flatlined on me. Oh, one thing...if anyone sees the MIA Worm, send him my way...thanks. Later...

Monthly again...must break pattern. Sadly, not much new, except the loss of my favorite shirt in a tragic bleach accident. I know who did it and I'm pissed, but we move on. Forgot all about a party that was tonight until Steve mentioned it, by then I had no time to plan for crashing. We move on. Admittedly it was good seeing Steve again, it's only been about 6 months or so.

In really really good news: I'm going to see Howie Day and Edwin McCain (Band) on August 1st. With the way my luck has been this summer the bus will get a flat outside of Green Bay and I'll be S.O.L., but I'm hoping for the best. It's going to be one hell of a concert. Now if I can just find a way to bring down the evil empire...they got 54% of the face value of the ticket in "fees"...I call it extortion. If I didn't think the show was going to sell out I would've taken my chances at the ticket window. The show will more than make up for TicketBastard raping me though.

What else is new? Let's see...work is work. Our new girl is "special" (read: little yellow bus special). I've always at least gotten along with everyone I work with till now. I've decided to be openly hostile, I consider it work under protest...she really should not be there...EVER. Home Store is a pretty tricky place to learn and she's not even making the effort, it's laughable, only I'm not laughing.

On a related note, the clock is ticking to my big 2-6 and desperation has set in (not THAT desperate to think of the above). Those of you who read this that actually know me know where I'm going with this. Ambulatory, pulse...or not (pulse optional), etc etc Words like cheap, physical, meaningless...fine. So if you know anybody, set me up.

Musically it's still John Mayer Central in my Discman, with a little DMB and Hornsby thrown in for balance. I may have to brush up on my Edwin now though, for the show. Howie is still pretty fresh (pun semi-intended). So...wish me luck on the Monochrome Bitch and hopefully I'll write on the 2nd or 3rd. Later...

Ok, so I'm a liar...waaay over a month. Sorry. Still not too much going on. Probably the best thing I did was get a DVD player. I'm hooked on the commentary tracks that most of them have. The Fight Club one with Fincher, Brad, Ed, and Helena is incredible...worth getting just for that if you ask me. The Way of the Gun is great too, Ryan Phillippe, Benecio del Toro, and James Caan, need I say more? Ryan's probably one of the most under-rated actors these days...very good in this one.

Well we have inventory in 6 days...fun fun fun. Of course it would be the same weekend that Howie is playing the House of Blues with John Mayer...my luck is SO good. Oh well, at least Joe will have a great time. I'll get to some concert this summer, I just have no idea which one yet. No DMB, PMB, Howie, or BNL...something will turn up though.

For those actually reading this: Appleton was fun...learned some useful things...bought myself some great pants at the evil empire (A&F), and got to see my favorite show kill off one of my favorite characters. I swear I felt just like I did when someone really died...like someone just hit me really hard in the stomach. I have to give West Wing credit for that. And if you aren't already watching it, catch Six Feet Under...absolute genius. The entire cast is terrific and Peter Krause deserves another great show after SportsNight got yanked.

I can't think of much else to ramble about that I want to share with my wonderful blogger page so we'll call it a night. Later

Yeah, it's been a month...I haven't had much happen lately. Pretty much work work and more work. Looks like I'll be going to Appleton next week for a seminar so I might have time to do some real shopping. It's funny, this is the first time I've ever had to travel for work...6 years, one trip, about time if you ask me. Hopefully it'll be fun and I might just learn something I need for my job.

I think I need to catch up on my movies. I just saw a special for Moulin Rouge...wow. Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman, and a ton of current songs done in the 1800's...looks amazing. I still need to see The Mexican and about 10 other movies....one of these days.

Music: Ben Harper Ben Harper Ben Harper...you MUST get Live from Mars. I always used to say that Ben channeled Hendrix when he sang, but now I think it's Marvin Gaye...his cover of Sexual Healing is so beautiful, better than Marvin. And Burn One Down will blow you away...totally reminded me of when I first saw Ben in '96 opening for DMB.

That's really about it, so I'll stop. Hopefully the next update will be sooner than this one. Later

I had another post in here but blogger ate it, so no yelling about the lack of an update please. Thanks. On to business...

I'm sick, I caught the damn head cold that's going around...yay...congestion like crazy and coughing every few minutes...so much fun. Called off of work today because of it. I probably could've worked, but it would've been bad. So instead I got to sit around all day and think too much. This is never a good thing if you are me. I saw too many people on tv having much better lives than I have. $6,000 a night hotel rooms, 3.9 GPAs, and a job on one of the coolest networks on tv right now..and what am I doing? Working below the poverty line at a job that I stopped enjoying once I had to show up...(it was a lot of fun when I was volunteering the first year). So yeah, I feel like shit right now for many reasons...to add insult to injury, overslept and forgot to try and get Gorge tix for the DMB show...no DMB on my birthday, oh well, par for the course.

For those of you who haven't met Pessimistic Mike, get used to him, he's gonna be around for quite a while. Had my review at work, and it didn't go exactly as planned...they restructured our pay so I got shafted. Can't say much more than that obviously since we aren't supposed to talk about that sort of thing. So I'm just going to be pissed and run with it for a while...at least I can have fun.

Speaking of fun, Chicago was great. PMB played better than I've seen them play in a LONG time. Brian Fechino definitely adds a lot when it comes to guitar and throwing new parts into the songs. A very nice change if you ask me. Howie Day was amazing as usual...he definitely should've had more time. His 30 minutes flew by, but he didn't waste one of them, he played pretty much everything I wanted to hear except Bunnies and Secret, so I'm more than happy. It was really cool to see all the people after his set who wanted to say hi and get autographs from him. He deserves all the fame he can get. My wallet probably isn't too happy with Chicago though...I went on a little shopping spree, bought stuff I didn't need and over-paid for food, but that's half the fun of the big city, and my new watch is really cool. I just wish my crutch hadn't broken along the way...my left arm was damn sore when I got home...duct tape only holds so much. This new pair is held together with bolts, so hopefully I won't have a repeat any time soon.

That's pretty much everything going on right now. To recap: Chicago was fun, I'm sick, and I hate my life. Must be that time of the month.

Later

Well, we made our goal for the China Blitz with 11 days to spare so now the rest is all gravy. If we beat the other stores in our region we get to have dinner anywhere we want. A few of us decided we're making the company pay for the BEST place in town. Oh well, at least we have our base in if nothing else.

I'm reading a really good book right now: A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice. He's Anne Rice's son and he got some good genes. It's got lots of foreshadowing and suspense and more plot twists than I can count. Chris has a lot to say about society woven into a good mystery and he's no afraid to piss people off in the process. Good stuff.

Let's see....picked up the new AGR disc, I'm very impressed. I've always been kind of so-so when it comes to listening to AGR, but there are a few tracks on this cd that just blow me away...Jakob and The Blinds to be exact. Definitely worth picking up. Get it!!

Well, that's about it...just waiting up to see if Drew (I still can't get used to that) is going to be on...I heard a rumor. Found out that DMB will be out his way on my birthday so I may just need to be there to see them and him...but I've gotta talk to him first, so he has to be on, and he's not....fun.

That's all....later