Oh. Hey. 2011, eh?
Long time no write. You know why? I simply haven’t had enough worth sharing. So here are some things that might be of interest.
RIGHT NOW I am on my first real vacation since 2004. That’s a slight exaggeration as I’ve taken a handful of long weekends, but this is the first time I’ve taken off five consecutive work days in six years. And you wonder why I’m slightly neurotic and depressed all the time. The bummer of it is that I can’t afford to get out of town and do things, so I’m sticking around and just taking it easy. When I return to work on January 10th, I will be training on a Doosan Puma CNC lathe. It will be weird doing something other than the paperwork I’ve been doing for the last four years, but if there is anything I learned from 2010 it is to embrace change.
In store this week:
Monday: Tentatively have plans to eat at Goose Island Pub. The impetus for this is the fact that I broke one of my roommate’s Goose Island pint glasses and I told him I’d replace it. Then I can say I’ve eaten there before and take guests there when they are visiting from out of town. I’ll act all cool like I do this all the time, when really about the only time I go out to eat is with guests from out of town.
Thursday: Sounds like I might meet up with some guests from out of town. Maybe we’ll go to Goose Island. Maybe not. Might be doing some art supply shopping too.
Friday: Printing! I haven’t kept up with this as much as I should have, but that’s what resolutions are for. I’ve got one illustration close to ready, but I might decide on something else at the last minute. Friday evening I’m heading over to the Aragon to see Weezer play some assorted tunes, followed by their eponymous debut in its entirety. The “Blue Album” is one of those seminal albums that I first bought on cassette. Remember “Buddy Holly,” “Undone (The Sweater Song),” and “Say It Ain’t So?” Three pretty good sized hits for a debut band.
Saturday: Weezer, part 2! As part of their Memories tour, I’ll be seeing them again at the Aragon, this time playing their second album, Pinkerton. I still remember the way the album smelled when my sister gave it to me on Christmas fourteen years ago. While I was familiar with the radio single, “el Scorcho”, little could have prepared me for the feedback laden “Tired of Sex”, the mid-album opus “Across The Sea”, or the key changing madness behind “Falling For You”. Why critics panned this album and steered Rivers off track is beyond me.
That might not sound like a lot, and you’d be right. I’ve got some other things going on, but I’m playing them pretty close to the chest. Maybe some recording. Maybe some writing. Maybe. I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep. I will say that I received Logic Express 9 this holiday season…
To add to matters, my internet has been out since yesterday and it’s changing the way I do everything. Who owns phonebooks anymore? How did I figure out guitar songs before YouTube and tablatures?
One more thing before I go: Who will join me in ushering in a new era where we pronounce the year twenty-eleven instead of two-thousand-eleven? It’s not a big deal, but twenty-eleven just rolls off the tongue so much better, don’t you think?
We own phone books. And I already heard some news anchors saying twenty-eleven! You’re not alone in that.
They call it twenty-eleven in Australia.
I’ve been trying to get people to switch to twenty rather than two-thousand since last year! Hopefully this is the year it finally happens.