Dumpster Fire

Went into Burlington Coat Factory for the first time and I circled the store twice found only 1/4 rack of coats on clearance this place is a trash dump and should be locked up and burned to the ground. I still need a coat.

Book!

The book proofs arrived. THey look great. Fantastic actually. It's quite snazzy. I should change a few things, but I think it's good for what it is. The numbers are off, they're on the inside of the pages rather than on the outside. But it takes a few days to get approved once I change and who cares. Rock and Roll. In retrospect I will probably regret it but hey, 1st gen. 

        I'm now waiting the few days it takes for Amazon to approve the whole thing and then I can announce. Once up, I will order a few copies. Actually I won't announce. i will wait until I finish my record, and acquire one more boom arm & mic setup for the podcast to really do it up big. I'll release the record, pawn my books in person on people, and have an avenue in which to do it. IE, the podcast. I need to pay rent first. After that, I can pony up for the rest of the equipment (second condenser, boom arm, shock mount) and start scheduling guests. Or so I hope. We'll see where it goes. Here's to the future. 

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday I took the opportunity to skip out of work for a few hours to "tour" some new spots on campus. I don't work on Campus. 

It scares the crap out of me that if certain people read enough of my posts, they might be able to figure out where I am. This wouldn't bother me for the most part, but there are a select few who I'd love it if I never saw or heard from them ever again. Some who WOULD go to such lengths. 

Any who, tour bus and 30 others, we went to campus. 1.5 hours was not enough time to do even what was planned. It should've been an all-day event. We cut short so we could go eat. Rather, either eat or go to the library. I chose food. I've seen the library. 

We were excited at the choices the cafeteria there had to offer, but there was this underlying experience and opinions that I was suppressing, trying to forget. It's been a while since I've been exposed to true, incompetent and nasty mass-produced college food. Sodexo, Chartwells and those types. Putting things in the food that makes sure you shit it all out in case someone prepares ALL those eggs wrong. Yes. Or in my instance, some guy with no gloves on, putting a barely-a-burger on the grill for less than 2 minutes and then not putting anything I asked on to it. Fine.

 I was still excited though, it looked like a good burger. But I forgot my phone, I couldn't use my card because, I couldn't load money on to it. I had mushrooms, cheese and this burger. Fries too. So I had to pay full price. But let's back up.

I got a small cup of Minute Maid "strawberry kiwi" I thought it might be good. It game out lime green. It screamed "chemicals and food coloring." I mean, LIME GREEN. Fine. I get in line, and there's a kid in front of me, shorts, sandals. He was buying a drink. He swiped his card, he did not have enough. He walked away to "get the rest." The unbelievably inept cashier freaked, had no idea how to handle the situation. She called over another cashier, who apparently knew what to do... Which was tell her she could do nothing until he got the rest. But he walked away.

I had a nice good sigh. Fucking hell. 29 cents, and he had walked away. The cashier could do (supposedly) absolutely nothing until he came back with the rest. But he'd walked away. Fucker. I was on a time crunch. Finally, I took out a dollar, one of the few I had left. I paid the rest. She yelled to him he was all set. I didn't even see him or receive thanks. I realized later it was probably his MO. He was a pro. I had gotten taken. Why would he have walked away? What the fuck man. Fine. 

I didn't have my card for the discount, nor did I have enough cash. My bare burger, fries, and SMALL cup of chemicals came out to $9.48. Holy shit. This better be fucking good. It was not. The burger was OK. Only OK. It had nothing but cheese and mushrooms on it. I asked for pickles, onions, lettuce and tomatoes. None of that. 

I wolfed it down, the fries were average but better than I've had, they were crispy. Thank god. It was actually a decent burger in retrospect, but the price is what soured it. Opening the cap of the chemicals, I realized I wasn't going to drink it. I sipped a bit but tossed the rest. I bitched to my coworker the tragedy of what was happening here. The raping of college students on this horrible food. Yet we were touring brand new facilities where this food was such trash. They're raping these students for a $10 burger and fries. Granted I didn't have a discount which I would've gotten with a card. But still. Why not bump up the quality of food? It was utter trash, and my standards are pretty low. I would've considered it decent had it been, say, 5 or 6. But not ten bucks. Fuck that. Fuck this. 

I made him laugh bitching about the highway robbery, the hidden tragedy happening on campus while the school spends money on show and tell, rather than the innards. They know students will eat shit. I did. Before and now. I was fooled, again. Choices are deceiving. Thankfully, I got half a paper-y burrito from another coworker who wasn't going to eat the other half. It was better. 

Today, I get paid, so I loaded my card up to go eat in the less-tragic cafe downstairs. This morning, I remember nearly forgetting my ID card. But I saw it and thought "that would've been tragic." But I grabbed it. Now, loading it up for breakfast. I cannot find it. Nor do I have any more cash in my wallet. So now I, am the one who needs to figure out a way to get myself something to eat on someone else's dime. 

How the tides change quickly. Fine. Here's to a better, existent lunch.

Move ovah

Sometimes, i'm interested in knowing a person I see around town, work, etc. But if they're walking down the hall with someone else, two people across and I'm walking towards them on the right, squishing myself against the wall, and they don't move over? 

         Well fuck you, you can die in a car fire.

Letterpress

I'm currently listening to a podcast about Letterpress printing. It's currently and suddenly a goal to reach. a "Some day." goal. Whatever you call that. Black Sparrow printed on Letterpress in the late sixties into the 90's when people were throwing all that stuff out for easier ways. It's complicated, Letterpress. It also seems like Letterpress books are always paired with the type of artwork I really love and want for my own. On this milky, old-school, tan-like natural cover with a simple but provoking design with flat colors. Most likely a product of the specific type of printing, at least on the cover. 

         It'll be what I strive for. You can find places that'll do it for you, but to self-publish ON Letterpress would be immensely expensive. So someday. I'm okay with self-publishing, but for anything more in terms of printing quality, I'll need to be selling some books and making some money.

      I've been chomping at the bit for my proof to arrive. It should be at the apartment when I come home Friday. I might take the day off to visit my old friends at Edgewood. I don't know yet, but until then when I get it in my hands to look over, I am stuck here in Limbo. Then of course if something is wrong, the whole proofing process starts over. But here's hoping the book looks okay.  

Book

Waiting for my book. Waiting for my book. Waiting for my book. Waiiiiting for maaahh book. Waiting for my book, waiting for my book. 

                            Well, it's a proof, but same thing.

Run Ya Bastards

That's written on this shirt a bunch of guys I work with made to do this 2 day 24/7 run up in Maine. Hardcore, not for me. But I've managed to skirt around the whole 5k, fun-runs thing everybody around here does,

          Until now. Today after work is the biggest 5k in the state. I got in for free so I got my shirt and number and yata yata yata. The only reason I'm doing it is because there's a guy I work with whose going to run with me, i wouldn't otherwise. 

       Also to see if I can run 3.1 miles out of the gate and live without having run in months, and even then on a treadmill here and there. I don't run PERIOD. Like at all for any reason. I also haven't been playing drums these past few months, so my stamina is at an all-time low. I mean that literally because I sit all day now. Last year, I was working outside all day in the heat, AND was in the most strenuous band practice/playing regiment I'd ever been in. We were nuts and had to be physically ready for it. After we split, we did a one-off 2 months later and I was NOT in shape, so now it's been 6 or 7 since THAT night, and I haven't played much since June in general. So here I am. 

       I'm secretly wondering though how much I can push it. My body that is. I donated blood on a less-than-100% day, well much less that that in fact and I donated TWICE I normally do with a recent history of a previous donation going poorly and I turned out fine this go-around. So I'm secretly hoping I've got a bit of that invincibility left in me I didn't realize I might still have. My legs will be toast, for sure. Bowling 8 strings in an hour, while insane, leaves me limping for a few days and feeling it for a good week. So running 3 miles after not using my legs much at all, will be a painful experience. But if my leg muscles being quite sore is the only suffering I incur after this, I'll consider it a win. 

     On the other hand, it could be the last straw. My body might finally decide I've treated it poorly enough (or not treated it enough that it decides today's the day it says "Fuck you Pat. Here's this issue that's been under the surface that you just ripped the band-aid off and will never be the same again, HERE YOU GO!" But who knows. 

I don't care about

Your fucking Red Sox or Patriots or Bruins or Yankees or Fisher Cats or Spinners or Cardinals or Oriels dammit. 

I. Dont. Fucking. Care. At. All. 

I really don't. I don't give one flying fuck about any god forsaken sports team you wanna watch or see. I don't care if they all die in a fucking plane, bus or motorcycle crash. I don't care. 

      I will however go with you to the game and watch and follow along and be ABLE to follow along and enjoy myself. Because I am a true gentleman who doesn't give a fuck about sports, but can follow along enough and go out if someone else wants to go out to game for whatever the fuck reason that may be. Sure, I'll go, okay, fine. 

     But as an individual, I could not care less. Some people say, "I could care less." Which they MEAN to say, "I could NOT care less." But they're monkey's who simply follow the order of things and clang their cymbals together and don't really give a fat flying fuck. 

     I used to be part of the action man, now I'm a sheep. Not a monkey, but a sheep. i used to be on the other side of the curtain, the side everyone wanted to be a part of. Now I'm a sheep. Nothing but a lowly damn sheep. It's embarrassing. I don't belong here.

         

          But then again, maybe I do. Baaaaaaaaa