oh gawd, looking back, kewl eh?

Thursday, December the Thirtieth 

12.30.10      159 pounds

Cleaning my room I found some old notebooks that were mostly from middle and high school. Flipping through them I found some pretty funny (to me) things. Apparently I used to keep a notebook next to me in bed and I would randomly wake up and write things in them either from dreams or night thoughts. I think I was in that emo teenage angst phase. I must have not turned the lights on when I would write them down in the notebook because the words are all over the page and fragmented. They are years and years old and am not sure what they mean exactly or what was going through my head at the time but I will share them here.

Page#1
                      across the
                               sea of yellow

             there is a spot of gray
breaking all concentration

loosing focus
masking stopping


                 lifes animations.

Page#2
water sounds sad pelting

    the faces of time.
  the hands tick backwards
          rewinding time
           reliving      the     pain
the morning the sun went
               down
and the darkness
                                       makes
          us all fade away

Page#3
                 But No, I Knew it.
                  the empty birdhouse
                      is soul less. the

       empty hearts cry no tears



rain falls up when the world is

         turned upside down.

to do list

Sunday December the twenty-sixth

12.26.10     162 pounds


Feeling overwhelmed? Make a to do list, that way you know all of the things you are not going to get done. I feel like there are a lot of things that I need to do, but can't seem to get any of them started or finished. If I write down what I need to do maybe it will help me complete my tasks.

• Go through facebook friends and delete as many as possible.(12.26.10)
• Go through iTunes and delete music that I do not want to listen to.
• Go to iPhoto:
• Make a folder of pictures that I want a hard copy of.
• Delete pictures I no longer want on my computer. (12.28.10)
• Go through my clothes and possessions and see what I really need/want and get rid of the rest.
• Update contacts in my phone to include addresses and birthdays.
• figure out how to get my calendar on my phone to include birthdays from my contacts. (1.3.11)
• Make a to do list(12.26.10)

Sometimes I think it would just be easier to start over. Get rid of all my clothes and materials and just start new, getting the necessities. I know that is not feasible though. Same with computer stuff, What do I have on my computer that I really need? ugh.

Christmas Hats

Merry Christmas.

12.25.10     162 pounds

Saturday, December the 25th

Made presents are fun.

This year my mom made Erin, Mike, and myself hats! I made a present this year for my mom. She has a blue bottle garden in her backyard and I drink a lot of wine, every time I get a blue bottle I save it and give it to my mom. I had two empty wine bottles and wanted to do something fun with them, instead of just giving her the empty bottles to do something with. I saw a picture of a blue bottle tiki torch and thought that would be a really cool idea to make for her back porch. I went and bought the supplies.

It was really fun to put together, it really was not that hard, just had to get a few items from the local plumbing store. It ended up looking pretty professional. This spring we will fill it up and hang it outside.

Talking out the Post

Friday, December the Seventeenth

12.17.10





I've told a few people that I started writing a blog but have not really given anyone the name of it or web address to it. My friend H.C. and I talk online quite a bit and when she asks what I am doing and I tell her blogging she asks me what it is about. As soon as I posted the King Crimson/Death of Listening post she had asked me how the blog was coming and I told her I had just posted. She asked what it was about and my explanation seemed to make more sense than the post actually did... maybe... perhaps I need to reread the post, and stop my ramblings about nothing.

It started about how because of new musical 

downloading technology we don't listen to 

music the same way we used to and it ended 

with me saying that i can't hold the attention 

of a song for more than 30 seconds.

 That is how I had originally described it to her but then realized that I was wrong. H.C. says that music is the only thing that she can pay attention to longer than 30 seconds, which may very well be an exaggeration from both of us, but makes the point that it is not because of the way we download that ruined our listening. It is we that has transmogrified how ourselves take in information. In other words, I am not you, you are not her, she is not him, and he is not me. 

I feel like I need some sort of visual and/or physical stimuli along with auditory triggers. The only time I feel I can really focus on the music is when I am doing an activity that keeps me busy but is somewhat dull, like cleaning or running.

I am going to clean up around the house while playing King Crimson now and see how that goes.

next on...    a christmas post perhaps

King Crimson and the Death of Listening

Wednesday, December the Fifteenth

12.15.10         159 pounds


On my run yesterday I listened to King Crimson. I have had In the Court of King Crimson on vinyl ever since I went through my parents old records and found it. I was blown away the first time I heard the album, and would play it over and over. These were the days before Bit Torrent, before LimeWire, even before Napster, and being a child I couldn't go to the store and buy any of their other albums. As time went on and I started listening to cassette tapes, compact discs, and MP3s, I had forgotten about the love I once had with King Crimson. That was until I heard Kanye West's new album. The third song on the album POWER samples King Crimsons "21st Century Schizoid Man" and that brought me back.

Now that we are living in the digital information age I can get entire discographies of virtually any musical group at no cost in a matter of minutes. I want to enjoy all these new albums I have downloaded. I find it hard to devote as much attention to these albums as I was able to when I was listening to their first record. Having all the songs on my iTunes player I am one touch away from advancing to the next song without thoroughly listening to it. I also now have over ten hours of King Crimson which I really want to listen to.

When I was listening to the vinyl records I would care for them, treat them delicately, gently position the needle to the beginning of the album and listen to the whole thing. If I wanted to listen to a song again, I would reset the needle to the start of the album so as not to accidently scratch it. When I got my first CD player I would listen to my compact discs but I wasn't content on just listening to them. I would play the CD while I occupied my mind with another task. There was no remote control for the CD player so if I wanted to skip a song I would have to drop what I was doing, walk over to the boom box and hit the next button. Now with all of my music on my computer I can be doing whatever  I want online while having music play and without even lifting my fingers off the keyboard I can change the song.

In the court of King Crimson was the bands' first album in 1969 so what I'd like to do is listen chronologically to the next album, In the Wake of Poseidon. I'm not going to move on to Lizard until I have really listened to ITWOP, like i did with ITCOKC. I tried this once before with Bob Dylan, listening to all of his albums in order by release date including his live albums and bootleg series which consisted of over 40 albums. There was just too much, I failed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

One week has gone by since I first started this post, I wanted to see if I would stay true to sticking to listening chronologically. I have strayed a little, gone on to the third album a couple times but not to the fourth through fourteenth. I also have not listened like I wanted to. I would like to just sit and be happy listening to music play like before, but that bores me. I will be listening to one song, think of another and want the instant gratification of getting to that song.

I have not just been listening to King Crimson though, I have also been listening to the rest of my library by putting the entire collection on random and then clicking next 30 seconds into every song that comes up. Maybe that is all I really need. A clip of each song to listen to. That is as much attention my mind will give to listening now anyway.

Up next... talking out the post

my bowling post

Monday, December the Thirteenth

12.13.10        160 pounds







I went bowling the other day with L.T., a buddy of mine, it was a lot of fun. Here is:

The story of the fowl line.

I have two goals when it comes to bowling.
  Number ONE: Hit at least one pin per frame.
  Numero TWO: Break 100.

My goals are not always achieved. L.T. and I played two games, both of which, I at one time or another bowled a 0-0 for at least one frame. L.T. won the first game and I did not even break 100. The second game was about to get started and I was warmed up. The first few frames went by and I promptly fell behind.

L.T. finished up his tenth frame of game number two with a final score of 100. I had seventy-five in the ninth frame. The only possible way I could break 100 (and beat L.T.) was to get Strike-Strike-6(or better) in the final frame. Because of L.T.'s winning of the first game, the pressure was on, and I couldn't let him annihilate me like that so I tightened up my rental shoe laces and picked up the ball. I stared down the lane and said "Well pins, it's you or me, and I don't fall easily." The ball spun off my finger tips and headed straight towards the right gutter, it danced on the edge and broke left at the last second smashing into the pins putting a big X on the board. I was stunned but knew it was not over. If I did not get a strike on the second ball than even with the spare my score would only be 95.

With the ball pressed against my chest it ascended and descended with each breath I took. I made my way up to the foul line and let the ball go. It felt good coming out of my hands but I did not want to look so I turned my back on the pins. I heard contact and could see in the face of L.T. that all the pins were down. My heart was beating faster, two strikes in a row! I was beside myself in joy and disbelief. knocking down five pins would tie me at 100 anything past that is a win. I've gotten strikes before, I may even have gotten a double before but I know that a turkey has never been an achievement of mine. My minimal goal was to get a five so I could be at 100, but a turkey would be pretty cool.

I picked up the ball I had used the previous two times and began my scamper up to the the line. I let the ball go... the spin felt good, it looked gravy, it could just do it...

Turkey!

STRIKE! 

XXX! 

TURKEY!

Just call me the comeback king.
105 is not even my best bowling score but this was my first ever turkey! Although frame ten looks awesome, check out frame eight 0-0... :-/   meh. Bowling is fun.

Next on...  King Crimson and the Death of Listening

Papa Bud

Burdette Kenneth Bostrom

09.22.1925 - 12.09.2010

Why the fuck will seasons not be what the hell I want them to be.

Wednesday, December the Eighth

12.8.10          161 pounds


A couple days ago my friend L.T. and I were going out to eat and it was snowing. There is nothing like the first snow of the winter, it really validates the cold. I mentioned this to L.T. and he asked me if it truly was Winter. "It's December," I replied "Of course it's winter."

After looking up when winter officially became winter on my phone I realized how mistaken I was. Winter does not start until the twenty-first of December. I do not like this. All of December should be winter, as well as most of November. Last year we had a shit load of snow in December. The average January high for the last ten years has been in the high 60's.

Come on seasons, what the hell do you think you are doing? Winter, stop trying to be summer. Can't you be happy being yourself? Spring and Fall are just transitional seasons, and every year nature fucks with me.


"Hey Ben," the God of season changes says. "You know how autumn is set to start about 2/3 of the way through September? Well, I think I am going to keep the temperature in the 70's until November and then drop all the leaves in one week and make it snow."

Well you know what Mister? I am not abiding to Your schedule any more! The dates mean nothing. Nothing I say! Fall will start when there is a drastic change in the color of leaves. So suck it God of Season Change, YOU DON'T CONTROL ME ANY MORE. You want to paint the leaves orange in August? I am ready for change and I am ready for you. You want to throw some snow down at the end of November? "Winter," I exclaim. "Winter!"

    The weather and vegetation dictate MY seasons. I do not give a shit about the planetary position in relation to the sun.

Next on... My Bowling Post

Post # 1

Tuesday, December the seventh. 

12.7.10                 158 pounds.

Morning Haiku

Wake up, 4 a.m.
get dressed. it's Cold. find Breakfast.
Banana, V8


It is not easy to stay healthy, I can say this because I do not stay healthy and that is very easy. After my V8 I immediately drank two sodas. Work was work, tried to do my job while management pushes and pulls everyone in my department to every other department that has fallen behind.

Lunch, 10 a.m. Turkey sandwich with a little bit of mayonnaise, brown mustard and baby spinach leaves. This is not a normality for me. I woke up this morning feeling very refreshed, so instead of lying in bed until the very last possible second when I could still throw clothes on and make it to work on time, I got up, stretched and made lunch. It felt good.

2 p.m. came home from work and had some vegetable stew while watching Brüno. I really liked the Brüno character on Da Ali G Show, but was not impressed with this movie. 4 p.m. went for a run. Twenty-something degrees out, which made me keep running to stay warm. That is a good motivator, if you slow down to a walk you will freeze your ass off so keep moving. When I came home from my run I made a tupperware of tuna, mayonnaise, and craisons, which I used to make a sandwich for dinner and will also be a lunch sandwich tomorrow at work.

Next on... Why the fuck will seasons not be what the hell I want them to be.