Remember when I used to work at the mall? Glory days.
Fuck. I suck. I've been meaning to post, but I keep putting it off. Now I'm a month behind with nothing to show. I'm such a slacker. I guess I need to stop spending so much fucking time reading the marriedtothesea clips. Brilliant stuff.
I got a substantial bonus and decidedly blew a portion of it on new tires. I needed some new ones, but I didn't want to stick with my shitty stock wheels. I have been keeping my eye out for months and months for some Audi RS4 wheels. I even asked people selling RS4s if I could buy the wheels. I was determined. After months of nothing, I broke down and bought a set of reproductions. I think they look nice. I sprung for some nice tires too. Germans make a fine suspension, I enjoy taking corners at speed.
The whistles go woo.
I also painted my grill black. It was a fucking chore. I wanted to do it right. Disassembling the grill unit sucks dicks. Straight up. I had a nice long weekend (Labor Day!) down south, at my parent's house, so I thought I'd spend it outside, working on my car.
Every time I go down there, it's like a little mini-vacation, which is nice, but also kind of sad -- I realize that that place will never be "home" again. Unless I can retire at a decent age. Which is why I'm investing a fair chunk of my income. Employee stock purchase plan to the rescue.
But yes, I had a nice time visiting the Valley. I generally just hung out. Got to see Tallon, Zac and their respective females. We tore up the Hong Kong. Good shit. I wish I could do it more often. It's always hard to come back to the hustle-and-bustle-and-despair that is Beaverton.
On the drive back, the Monday of Labor Day weekend, there were cops every 8 fucking miles. I got a motherfucking ticket on I-5N. $250 bones. What for, you may ask? "Following too closely." Dang. I didn't even realize I was too close. It sucks, but may it's for my own good -- I mean, I didn't even realize that I wouldn't be able to react at that distance and speed. Plus, I hear that it encourages road-rage incidents. Wait. What? Fuck the police. I guess I've adapted to Beaverton's morning traffic, which seems to be more of the 'MOVE YOUR SHIT NOW' variety than the police down south understand.
At work, sometimes I have to write a shell script to FTP (file transfer protocol) some files from here to there. Every time I type FTP, I hear the opening line of "Fuck the Police." I love my brain.
I'm interviewing for a promotion in a week or two or so. I am fairly nervous, I suppose. I think there are some people in the higher ranks that would love to 'crash' my interview and really try to get me to sweat. It'd be just their style. I'll not be too sad if I don't get the position, but I'm cut out for it. It's not a huge leap, but it'd be nice to get off the ground floor just a little bit more.
I sense a bright future
Between bouts of work and traffic tickets and 18" wheels and girlfriends and love and music and showers and hotdogs, this has been the mother-of-all-summer-wedding-summers. Started off with Corey, continued with Jeryl and ended with my uncle. Wait, Darrin is getting married in October. Four. Yow.
Corey's -- very classy and upscale. I met some really neat potters that make urns. Exclusively. I guess there's a really big market in classy, handmade urns. Who knew? I asked about cremation trends across the US. They were a bit unsure and unsettled by my question, I think. Corey looked great in his tux and his bride looked superb.
Jeryl's -- This one deserves it's own post. Pictures coming soonish. They are on my parent's computer (I used their camera). Luckily, their computer broke and they gave it to me at wedding #3 so that I can fix it. Parts are in the mail. SOONISH, I SAY!
Uncle Bill's -- Simple. Out in the middle of nowhere. I got up at 5:30. Got gas. Checked the tire pressure, thew in a bit of oil and drove my fucking ass off to easternish oregon. Ms. Kim had to work, so I drove it alone. Beautiful terrain. I listened to some good tunes and watched the trees turn into pasture turn into an even more arrid climate.
Hello Mr. Hood
Nothin' on top but a bucket and a mop.
High desert, bitches.
There were about 10 people at the wedding. The ceremony was < 10 minutes. Glorious. I haven't seen my uncle for years. I have a certain respect for the guy.
Darrin's -- Hasn't happened yet, but I can't wait to cause hell. I have a bag of M80s and bottle rockets and grenades, you know.
By the way, my favourite cooking show, Good Eats, has a fucking box set. I just learned this. 27 motherfucking DVDs. Hell yes.
Speaking of media, I've been consuming a lot lately. Here are my one sentence rundowns:
Cake : B-Sides and Rarities. Many thanks to Kleeb for letting me know about this. It's totally rad. War Pigs, Conrow, Never Gonna Give You Up -- all rad.
Pinback : Autumn of the Seraphs. Signature Pinback and not much more. Polished to a fine sheen. Despite a lack of substantial growth, it's still pretty damn amazing.
Kanye : Graduation. The more I listen, the more I like. He's one cocky motherfucker, but damn if he can't produce a mean hook.
Aesop Rock : None Shall Pass. -- Blockhead is back with Aes. It's not as good as I had hoped. Sad.
A Place to Bury Strangers : S/T -- Some of the best guitar tone of the pat few years. Sadly, the vocals pretty much delegate this to my 'eh, not so much' pile.
The Go Team! : Proof of Youth -- I was hoping that The Go! Team would transform into this entirely new, face-melting entity between albums, but they didn't. Still, the results are damn fine. Go drive fast and listen real loud. Except track three. Fuck that song.
Following the music theme, I finally finished my work on the Macadam album art. I have yet to see the finished product, but I know it exists. I need a copy. I did a shirt design for them too. Neat. Note: I had no say on the album title.
I also applied for a job at the Europe HQ. It'd be around 2 years, probably. It's an uber longshot, pie-in-the-sky type shit, but still, it's fun to daydream about. Did I mention that it'd be in, um, Amsterdam? Yeah. Like whoa.
Next weekend, The Smashing Pumpkins. I felt obligated, since I never got to see them when I was an angsty teen and totally idolized the band. I hope it doesn't suck too much -- I still hold a respect for the band. DON'T RUIN IT FOR ME, BILLY CORGAN.
Anyway. I love you all. For real.
