How I Spent My Shitty Vacation....

This was supposed to be a break from all the chaos and bullshit, ten whole days where I don't have to hear any whining, cater to anyone else's personality quirks, or feel any unnecessary stress. This stupid holiday has been anything but...

Went to see a remade version of the Revolting Cocks, one of my favourite industrial bands. Billed as RevCo but not actually containing any original members, it was like watching a really good cover band. It was cool, but not really.
I finally got to meet Mo's brother (he's def. my kind of people), but a toothache nearly drove me out of there, and I was out of ibuprofens, so I stopped and picked some up on the way to my sister's.
I always love hanging out with my sister, but nearly every time we talk we always end up rehashing the things that happened to us when Dad died, and I'm kind of done reliving that whole mess. Every once in a while is okay, it is quite an amazing story and deserves to be retold and re-examined, but it can't be what defines me and I can't continue to hold onto it in the way it seems she does.
The highlight was getting to see my niece score her first goal in a soccer game; the soccer parents were mostly tolerable, too. Amazing stuff.
Jeff and Laura were my next stop and something is seriously wrong, as in I'm not angry at them, I'm just worried. We went to dinner...Laura seems very anxious and on-edge, Jeff seems to be just doing what he needs to do to survive. Laura's driving anxieties were also getting the best of her; having to ride over in the car with her yelling at Jeff the whole time was quite stressful. She really lost it on him once when she thought he was turning into oncoming traffic and from there, we never recovered. After dinner we went to visit other friends, and it became an awkward night of everybody either being pissed off, exasperated, or wondering what everyone else was pissed off and tired of. We cut the night short and I headed home.
I drove for over an hour to get pulled over less than a block from home by the Lakewood police because there is a light over my back license plate that is apparently burned out. I didn't even know a light over my back license plate existed, even asked the cop if he was serious. I had no license to give him (lost it a few weeks ago and haven't replaced it yet, probably dumped it at a show since it's the only time I never take my whole wallet with me.) Got a ticket for no seatbelt, and a "warning" for the light, could have gotten busted for multiple other reasons I will continuously be grateful for that I didn't, but the amount of bullshit it's going to cost me once it comes to light that I have no car insurance is going to be enough to rock my world plenty.
So by Saturday night at midnight when I'm usually out having a blast somewhere, I'm home and afraid to do much of anything, so I just went to bed. Woke up early Sunday to get the house put together and the food on for the football people. By the time the game started, I'd gotten the whole house clean, showered, gotten two needy friends out of my ass and gotten a meal cooked for 5 people.
All for a Browns game that would've made for a much better nap than anything else. The team that sucked less that day won, which happened to be my Browns, 6-3. Watching 8-year-olds play would have been more exciting and NFL-quality than this.
Missed the Monday night game thanks to the Tiesto concert, which has proved so far to be the highlight of my vacation otherwise full of lowlights. The music Tiesto's made for Kaleidoscope seems much harder, edgier than what he's made in the past, so of course I'm digging it a little more. And I sure was digging that adorable young boy in the Real Madrid jersey I made sure I stood next to all night.
But, like an idiot, I clipped my glasses to the front of my shirt and lost them somewhere during the course of the show. I have another pair, but that's still a $50 pair of glasses GONE. And, like an idiot, I let K talk me into leaving before I was ready too, but I'd just discovered I'd lost my glasses, nearly lost my phone, and figured it was probably time for me to go anyway, considering how the rest of this vacation has been. So I'm driving around in a car with no insurance and a back license plate light out (!) at 3 a.m. on a concert night to get K and myself home and there's nobody out but me and the fucking cops...go ahead, G, you just keep pushing that envelope, dumbass...
Made it home without incident and spent today hiding from the world. Don't want to see anybody, talk to anybody, don't care. For all this bullshit was worth, the only good thing has been not having to get up and go to work everyday in the middle of it all.
So Wednesday begins a new day, a new chance to reclaim my vacation, the opportunity to actually find the fun this holiday was supposed to provide before I have to revisit reality again and start the actual choking on it....

Photos From The Brett Favre Retirement Tour - Cleveland 9/13/09

Dedicated to Aaron Rodgers And All My Fellow Cheeseheads...

What a shitty, shitty day to be a Packers fan:

Easy Like Sunday Morning...

Football funnies to get you in the spirit:







Somebody finally smacks Jay Cutler. Maybe now he'll STFU.






Jerry Jones digs in for this one...







Speaks for itself...







Your official Plaxico Burress mugshot.



And thanks to Deadspin for selling out Chad Johnson:

"How did they get those coveted seats anyway? Well, it seems that a certain showboating wide receiver purchased them on their behalf. When Chad Ochocinco announced his intention to jump into the Green Bay crowd—a feat others have tried and failed at—three Cincy fans offered to be his welcoming committee. So Chad hooked them up with tickets and, fortunately for him, he picked the right end zone. So yeah, they weren't there by accident."



And to Kissing Suzy Kolber for the adventures of "Wade and Jerry", the funniest, most offensive shit in the NFL blogoshpere. The Marion Barber character brings tears to my eyes...

Eat This: Genn's Crabby-Cakes and Peach Crisp

Crabmeat, bread crumbs, mayo, bell peppers, green onions, egg, worchestershire sauce, lemon juice, garlic and good ol' stadium mustard.



















Peaches, oats, flour, dark brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.

I Will See The Brett Favre Retirement Tour From RIGHT HERE:

OMFG

Sunday Roast: Barack Obama Could Take A Lesson From Brett Favre

Dear Mr. President,



You are the leader of the free world. I hired you to do this job mostly because you're cool and you "get it" in the way the last guy didn't. And because I also believed you were righteous enough to stand up for the average American and tough enough to win.

In other words, this Mr. Nice Guy bullshit is killing me. We've thrown money to the banks and the auto industry by the billions, but the only program that's really been successful involves bailouts for actual American people, Cash-for-Clunkers. And now we want to lessen the impact of a public health care plan just to appease the guys on the other side of the aisle? Are you kidding me?!?!

Your party has control of both houses of the Senate, and you are the President, the Big Cheese. If you want to make it illegal to wear Crocs, you can do that (I wish you would). The Republicans are NEVER going to side with you and since you don't need them to, worry about getting your own party on board and cram this legislation down everyone else's throats.

Many of the people who believe public health care is a bad idea are the people who actually have insurance, have never had any major health issues and for whom health insurance costs are no more stressing than major car repairs, not life-altering losses. They have no idea what it's like to be very sick and have no coverage. It's that typical American "it's not in my back yard" mentality that the rest of the world hates us for; if it's not happening to us, it's not happening.

So fuck 'em. They don't know what they're talking about anyway.

Just like you are the leader of the free world, Brett Favre is the king of the NFL. If he wants to retire and un-retire 15 times he can do that. Many people say it is tarnishing his legacy and he's being arrogant, which may be true, but he's Brett Favre, he can do whatever the bloody hell he wants. He may not be making the most popular decisions, but for the millions of NFL fans who still want to see him play, we're fine with it, and we'll reap the rewards any given Sunday until his career really is no more. Those that don't can watch the game that's playing on the other channel.

You need to do what you need to do to save this country in spite of ourselves. Stop being so damn nice; make public health care happen and make it work. Be selfish, declare your plan is the best and declare that it will be implemented. You can earn your legacy by taking care of business and being a leader or you can earn it by being the guy who couldn't save America from collapse.

How 'Bout A Nice Cup o' "SHUT THE F**K UP BRETT!"

Be careful how you trust a redneck with words...

I love Brett Favre. But this was unnecessary.

"If you're a true Packers fan, you understand."

Are you kidding me?!?! If you're a true Packers fan, all you want to do after a comment like that is light his jersey on fire like Fran Tarkenton just said we should do.

Being a true Packers fan makes me want to hate him, it's being a true FOOTBALL fan that makes me understand. And YOU, Mr. Favre, are afraid to retire. And I'm afraid for you.

I love this game just as much as Brett Favre does. And I understand this game. And I understand that after 18 years of leading the life Brett Favre has lead, I would hang on by every last thread I could, too. You're a rockstar, one of the most famous athletes in America, adored by millions, worth million$, and you get up and go to work every day to a job you love more than anything.
If I was in those cleats, how easily could I give all that up? I'm afraid of getting bored now, and I don't live half the life Brett Favre does. If the idea is enough to give me a complex, just how scary must that be for him?? Playing football is all the man's ever known and he's being forced into a life where he does everything but play football. His whole life is going to change dramatically once he does finally retire....and even a guy like Brett Favre has a right to be afraid of that.

The Purple Uniform Might Take a Little Getting Used To, But It Feels Good To Be Home...

That's what the fuck I'm talkin' about, baby! Woooo hoooooo!!! The days of the 60-yard bomb are NOT, repeat, NOT over....



From NFL.com:


Favre to return (again): QB signs with Vikings

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Brett Favre is coming back for more, as the 39-year-old quarterback turned his back on retirement for the second time in as many years.

The Minnesota Vikings have signed three-time NFL MVP Brett Favre, the team announced on its website Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Vikings held a press conference to announce the move.

Sporting a red No. 4 practice jersey, Favre joined his new teammates on the field. Favre took some snaps from center and delivered passes to receivers.

Sunday Roast: Tom Meighan Is Right About Americans

"I'm on it, get on it,
The troops are on fire,
You know I need it, much closer,
I'm trading just a little more.
Step on it, electronic,
The troops are on fire,
I'm much deeper, a sleeper,
Messiah for the animals.

Ah, Come on,
We got our backs to the wall,
Get on, and watch out,
Before you kill us all..."

-Kasabian, "L.S.F.", 2004.



Kasabian singer Tom Meighan recently bitched to XFM Radio that Americans are "deluded", and musically "30 years behind".
Yeah, well, of the two of us, I'm the idiot that lives here, and music isn't the only thing we're deluded and 30 years behind on.

I'm fed up with this health care "debate" if that's what you even want to call these obnoxious shouting matches at town hall meetings. Simple-minded Americans have turned this from a debate about how to fix health care into a battle over the government taking control of our lives. Are these people that uncivilized as to think "death panels" would actually be considered acceptable in America under any circumstances?!?!

The U.S. Declaration of Independence signed in 1776 gives us the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" under the protection of the American government. Why is our personal health not considered a part of that? We have a military that defends against our enemies, Food/Drug regulators making sure the food we eat is safe, agencies that provide basic survival needs during natural disasters, why is personal health care any different?

We have laws to protect our freedom of speech but it's kind of hard to understand the words coming out of the mouth of an American with no damn teeth...

The only excuse we have left now is the FEAR OF CHANGE. Everybody's afraid we're going to fuck it up even worse and completely bury this country. Well, too bad; what we're doing now is a slow suicide. Making health care a private industry has proved to be a disaster. There is no other option but the "public option".

Because You Can Never Get Enough Tool: More Vid From Lollapalooza '09

The View From The Windy City...

...is a fine one as Lollapalooza blows in for the weekend. No longer the traveling-road-show it used to be, Chicago plays host most often to the current Lollapalooza set-up.
This year's line-up includes Depeche Mode, Tool, The Killers, Lou Reed, Ben Harper, Snoop Dogg, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On The Radio, Ben Folds. Snippets below:



TOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!




Depeche Mode




Ben Folds




The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Sunday Roast

This little guy was found, though not necessarily safe and sound, in Iraq, two years after being kidnapped by terrorists for ransom because his dad was a police officer. In that time, they tortured the kid, hammering a nail into his leg and pulled it back out, pulling his teeth out with pliers.
Now I'm no fan of kids, but you have to have something extra-special wrong with you to hurt a child like that. I'd love to know how you even get there, like, where in the thought process does it occur to someone "Gee, I think I'll get a pair of pliers and rip this kids teeth out." Seriously!
These people are the missing link between man and monkey; they're not human. They're uncivilized monsters. I was never for the war in Iraq, still not, but this kind of garbage makes me want to blow the whole country off the map. But then you take out the good people, too, and this kid deserves a chance. God help him, please.






Happy 40th anniversary Charlie! The party-days of the '60's came to a bitter close in August of 1969 when the dark/evil/crazy side of the hippie movement was exposed to the world by way of Charles Manson and his band of merrymakers.

Yeah, folks...this is what several hits of acid and communal living with psychopaths can do for you.

I've been fascinated with the Manson story since I was a kid. Because I was born after it happened, it was a horror story, like something out of a movie you can't believe actually occurred. That's what made it so fascinating...it was real. As an adult I'm still fascinated, but I now understand it must have been a horrible, horrible way to die, and that the people who loved them still live without them every day of their lives.


To SW and RS - for finding out the hard way that life does not equal "Pineapple Express" and your pot dealer is not always your buddy. "Lingerers!"


To myself - for putting up with all that bullshit, to the point where I lost two whole days at work to surreality. Either I continue to put up with that crap and have more days wondering if I'm dreaming all this up, or I can put an end to it. Keeping a roll of duct tape on my desk is a great start; I need to learn how to keep my mouth shut. But right now, it's everybody else who needs to shut up.

Speaking of shutting up, am I losing popularity? Some disappearing acts as of late are getting a little disturbing...

Sunday Roast

A day early...I am going to be busy Sunday. Chores, errands, cooking, putting the fantasy-football league together so people will stop asking me about it.



These people - got into a debate on a friend's Facebook page about universal health care. Here's how it went down.

Anne: I do not agree with Universal Healthcare. I work with enough Canadians to know that they come to this country to get their healthcare because with Universal Healthcare you have to wait sometimes more than 6 months to see a specialist. By that time, if you have cancer it would have already spread to a certain extent. Not a good thing!!!!! Everyone gets it but good luck getting in to see a Dr. on time. Sorry, don't agree. I don't think we should have to pay for healthcare either. I obviously worked at Metro so what does that tell you. I just think that if it happens and you really need to see a Dr. and can't get in to see one when you need to, you will Mthr-fck Universal Healthcare at the point. Now this is only hearsay from people that live with Universal Healthcare. Half of the people I work with in Detroit are from Windsor and they utilize American Insurance. Hmmmmmm. Why?

Genn: So many people wait to see a specialist in a universal health care system because the most serious cases are treated first. No one with a suspected cancer is told to wait six months to see a specialist; if that was the case, Canadians would be dropping like flies. The only reason to get American insurance as opposed to universal is because you can actually afford it and it’s more convenient.
I’m a Libertarian, I should be against this, but health care is not a privilege, it’s a right. Does not the Declaration of Independence state it is the job of the American government to protect my rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Since when is personal health NOT a part of that?

Anne: I AM NOT AGAINST HEALTHCARE BEING A RIGHT FOR EVERYONE. I GUESS THE CANADIANS I WORK WITH ARE LYING ABOUT HOW IT REALLY IS IN CANADA. ALSO, IF YOU HAVE MONEY IN THE UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM THEN YOU CAN JUMP AHEAD IN LINE AND RECEIVE CARE SOONER THAN PEOPLE THAT DON'T HAVE MONEY. IF YOU THINK THAT'S BULLSHIT THEN YOU NEED TO DO YOUR RESEARCH A LITTLE BETTER. I GUESS THAT'S WHY NOT EVERYONE IN CANADA IS DROPPING LIKE FLIES.

Dave: Thank you...someone who knows what their talking about when it comes to healthcare. Research healthcare reform first friends,than form your opinions.

Genn: Healthcare should be a right for everyone but we shouldn’t have to pay for it? How else do we pay for it? Paycheck-to-paycheck Canadians don’t have the funds to buy US insurance or pay for procedures here, leaving millions there with no other option but public health care. If average Canadians were being forced into life/death situations due to poor government service, the public would be screaming about it. Canada’s government works as a HMO as opposed to a universal system that is run like a hospital, and it works just about as well as a HMO. ;( They are the payee, not the direct service provider; different role, different problem. I’d hesitate to say anyone’s “lying”; most people form a perspective based on their own experience in the system, which varies person to person, not because they’re just making stuff up.



Now they can all just shut the fuck up...





Dale and Leilani Neumann - Good. You get what you deserve. They have now both been convicted of second-degree reckless homicide in the death of their daughter, Madeline. The 11-year-old died from diabetes because her parents refused to seek medical treatment for her and chose to "pray" her illness away instead. They face up to 25 years in the slammer for it, and I expect their other children have since been taken away.

God does not appreciate stupidity committed in his name. Period. He gave us free will, but also the tools we need to use it wisely. You don't use them, I don't feel an ounce sorry for ya.





Braylon Edwards - we're not even really sure what's wrong with him, but the only wide-receiver on the Cleveland Browns new coach Man-gina didn't trade is NOT practicing with the team. He's hurt, we think an ankle, but nobody's talking, he's just riding a bike on the sidelines. WTF??

Stuck In The '90's: The Toolmobile Lives...

You could be the greatest car ever.
When we roll, you're my co-conspirator.
A little dusty, a lot dented, but at 14 years old your engine still purrs like cute kittens.

No major repairs in three years. This last round of problems could(should) have been much, much worse...

Ya Win Some, Ya Lose Some...

Brett Favre is serious this time. He's retired. The days of the 65-yard bomb are officially over. We'll never have to wonder again if it's going to be a complete pass or an interception. We'll never be able to sit back and have a latte waiting for the ball to come down out of the air again.




As if this day in NFL history wasn't dark enough, Jim Johnson, one of the most well-respected, longest-tenured coaches in the NFL, passed away today. Last year, he almost single-handedly walked the Philadelphia Eagles into the Super Bowl.



This day should otherwise suck, but I talked to Cid for the first time and she is just awesomeawesomeawesome!! A week or so ago my friend Nikki hit me with the bombshell that my Dad had been her godfather; now that the six degrees are put together, Nikki's godmother "Cindy" is Dad's life-long friend "Cid", and my sister and I have been searching for and wondering about Cid for 9 very long years.
I finally spoke with her by phone tonight and she is absolutely wonderful. She's everything I thought she'd be, laid-back like Dad was, non-judgmental, independent, and she remembers my mom too! She didn't know my mom well, but she remembers her and the beautiful long blonde hair. Now I have to call Nikki and tell her all about it.

This whole thing with Dad and Cid and Nikki has made what's left of my heart just melt. But my stomach turns over the idea of losing Brett Favre and Jim Johnson three days before training camp.

I thought I was getting too old for roller-coasters but this continues to be one hell of a ride...

Sunday Roast

The Toolmobile - so I had a car for a whole twelve hours and now it won't hold a charge. Because I'm back to waiting on payday, I'll have no car for two weeks again. The only thing I'm sure of is that whatever's wrong with it now is not a deal-breaker, I won't lose the car because of it, I'll just continue to pay out my ass for a car and not be able to afford to actually drive it.









RTA police - I got pulled off the bus this week and written a ticket for not having my pass stamped, though the pass itself was valid. All they had to do was tell me to go up to the front of the bus and stamp it, which I couldn't do anyway because the bus was packed. Because I'm a cop-hater, I could only make the situation worse, so I sat there and said NOTHING the whole time they wrote up their little report, and when he handed me the ticket, I tore it up into a bunch of pieces and asked where the garbage can was. My boy said there was no garbage can at this station, so I dumped the pieces onto the ground and walked away.

Myself - for making things with the cops worse than they have to be when I know damn well if I need the cops, I want them to help and respect me.


My co-workers - I really do adore them all, but this week they get roasted because I am sick and tired of the fucking games, to the point where I'm starting to not adore you people as much, and that's not cool. I'm sick of being your baby-sitter. I shouldn't have to get up and shut the goddamn door behind you 20 times a day. I shouldn't have to explain to a TEACHER how to write a description of an incident with one of the students. And the play-stupid routine out of the other teacher, who claims to not even know what her test-prep course curriculum is, I've had enough of that bullshit to last me a lifetime. She knows sure as hell what the test-prep curriculum is, she's been doing it since before I was there! I got a co-worker at the other place who is a typical "office bully" and at 34 years old I am just not playing that game, either.
So everybody's gonna get told. Fuck 'em.
Co-worker A is going to be to told to shut the door behind her if I have to say it 50 times a day. Co-worker B will be told to just give me the paperwork I ask for instead of looking for shit to argue about. Co-worker C will be told to either stop the play-stupid act, or let me play along: whatever she thinks she doesn't know, like the test prep course curriculum, I will review with her and then she can't say she doesn't know anymore. We can just eliminate that game. Co-worker D is gonna get told she's not going to bully me into doing my job the way she wants me to...I'm 34 years old, why the fuck would you even TRY that on someone my age?!?!
Folks are gonna need to tread lightly this week; I am more than ready to start calling them all out.







Football Season - for not getting here fast enough....

My Dad: The Gift That Keeps On Giving....

When Dad died, he gave me another half-sister, Kelly. He gave me knowledge and closure, at the end of the best relationship I'd ever had with anyone in my life.
My Dad was a good person who did a lot of bad things, especially when it came to women. My blog column "Hot Chicks My Dad Would Have Dated" isn't entirely made up. He was handsome and charismatic and charming; I saw with my own eyes how women just fell head-over-heels for him and vice versa.

I met Nikki when we were in junior high, maybe high school??? Through a mutual friend, her and I didn't go to the same school...I don't think. We lost touch like most folks do after 18 years of age, and just rekindled that within the last few years as a group of us high-school friends came back together for good this time. Nikki's been a regular part of my life since. I trust her, I enjoy her, and now she's my god-sister.
I'll have to get more details once I get a chance to talk to her, but the initial word on the street is this: my Dad was dating a woman named Cindy at the time. Cindy's best friend was Nikki's mom. When Nikki was born, Cindy and her boyfriend, my Dad, were named the god-parents. My Dad is my long-time friend Nikki's godfather.
She sent me an email earlier today, not sure exactly how she figured it out, but I'm guessing a conversation between Nikki and her mom started it.
As most of you who know me are aware, there's a lot about my dad's life that we don't know, mostly because of all the lies he told. But more and more often, people come out of the woodwork and we learn a bit more about him. And rarely is it good. I had a woman contact me last year by email that read my blog and figured out I was John's daughter. She was very much in love with Dad and in finding closure, it seems to have been that he played her similar to how he'd played so many others.
But finally, Kim and I have some good news, and I have some questions. Nikki's story of my dad will have to be compared with what we know about Dad; I'm going to need dates, places, names. And how in the world did Nikki find out that my dad had died? He passed away before her and I became reconnected, so she must have heard from somebody else, but who?
Once the shock wears off I will be totally happy about this; right now I'm just a little dumbfounded. And I'm sure if Nikki, her mom, or Cindy are willing to answer some questions, I'm going to be finding out more crap to make the picture look even less rosy.
Of all the women in Dad's life, the one he hurt the least is me. The more I learn, the more complex and deceiving the picture of my dad becomes, but I love him no less. I just do my best to make sense of it and then set it aside for the book deal. If my life didn't happen to me I wouldn't believe it either....

Sunday Roast

Now that I have all the time in the world to sit around and do nothing, it should be real easy to keep up with my writing.





For almost three years now, I haven't had to take the Toolmobile to the auto doc for much of anything. I've had a muffler changed, and brakes, and that's it. A couple months ago, we started losing oil to the tune of a quart a week. That became a quart an hour about two weeks ago. I'm leaving streams of it in the road.
So we go through the typical car-dance, having friends and family look at it, nursing it between auto stores, and the verdict seems to be coming out that the car is shot. My "expert" mechanic, the guy who's fixed my cars for 10 years, is going to take it Monday and hand over an official time of death. The family/friends know just enough about cars to know a dying one when they see it and "the talk" has already been had.
No wheels. Just. Like. That. And no way to replace it. My bills have suddenly outweighed my income by about $200 a month. Just. Like. That.
I haven't bought a car by myself, like, ever. I have no idea what I'm in for, and I have no idea what my options are. I've had a friend offer to sell me her car; I've also contemplated living without a car completely, or leasing a car. I'm debating quitting smoking, slowing down the party lifestyle, getting a second job; that money's got to come out of something.
So far so good though. Last weekend was fun and long, and I had a ride everywhere I needed. I got a ride from Skillet today to get all my grocery shopping done, and I can get one of the neighbours to drive me around the corner to the laundromat and back no problem, so I'm grateful to have at least been able to keep up with my life.
But it's going to start to be struggle quickly. I can;t always rely on my friends to get me around, and what about the days when I have multiple parties/places to be among different groups of people, all of whom are not going to cater to my chauffeur needs on a schedule like I'm used to keeping some days.
Life is going to get real boring, real fast. That's the part of all this that scares me more than anything else. "Party money" is always the first thing you are forced to sacrifice when something like this happens. But how much of it can I sacrifice, how much should I be willing to sacrifice?
Great, I'll have a car and but won't be able to afford to go anywhere with it. It's not like I'm blowing gobs of money on my rock n' roll lifestyle, either, I do it all on the cheap, I just know how to find the deals. I can cover a night at Playhouse Square with $15.
Sitting around watching Keith Olbermann, playing on the Internet and finding music online used to be Genn-time activities, time I would specifically lay out where I could be left alone with nothing to do. Now it looks like I'm going to have a lot more of that time than I bargained for. And to be a newly-quit smoker?? That could make me completely insane.




Why is this NEWS?!?! This is not a roast on Brad Pitt, but CNN.









This world is just too small.
We're having a party at Steph's; me and Mark are going to walk up to get beer, Steph and her sister are walking up to get subs. We had done a little partying already.
She lives right around the corner from Coventry, a cute little strip of retail stores, food places and bars/clubs that get a little lively and packed on weekend nights.
The beer store is about 300 steps between Steph's place, there and back. On the way to the store, we run into a girl who is a former student from my work. She was out shopping with friends. On the way back, we run into a current student, a 21-year-old boy with bi-polar disorder, and I'm setting a great example getting caught by him all stumbly and carrying beer around.
AND
The guy I met on the bus in January that just up and disappeared and then showed up at the art museum party in June....
Skillet and I stopped in the Cleveland soup-nazi restaurant on our way to the market to do my grocery shopping to try out the cream-of-crab-and-asparagus; major good. The stand-up counter you eat at faces onto the street, so you just look out the glass and see people coming down the sidewalk.
And my boy walks by, talking to someone on his celly. He just happened to look in the window and I just happened to look up. We made eye contact for a few seconds, but I froze pretty quick and he kept on walking by.
Fabulous. I got used to not seeing him on the bus after he just up and disappeared, figured it was done. I run into him at the art museum with 600 other people in the place, get the slight shove-off, okay, I get it. Now I'm just gonna keep on running into him in random places? It's not like we have the same friends or he knows what I'm doing/where I'm going, this is all coincidence. And it's ridiculous.
I know this kind of shit happens to me all the time, it's part of what keeps my life so interesting. But this one is annoying...

Sunday Roast...on Monday

That just means it was a good weekend and I couldn't find anyone I had to roast immediately.




...but leave it to our old friend Dick Cheney to come along and spoil the fun. This guy shaded and spun America and its government so well he got us into a war we didn't need to be in just because it was part of his personal ideology (what 9/11?).
And now he's being accused of keeping a special CIA program secret from the Congress.
Big fucking deal. After everything he's done to destroy this country and "keeping a secret about a CIA program" is the best you got? Come on! Like duping an entire country into a war was pancakes.








Northern Ireland - Can we please not start this again? A bunch of young rebellious kids angry that the IRA chose to hang up the militia and become a political party of Northern Ireland has taken to the streets throwing stones and petrol bombs into the annual Orange Order parades. So far no fatalities, thank God.
On the other hand, they really shouldn't be having public Orange Order parades anymore when they're trying to bring the country together. It just isn't a best-business-practice.






The Door - Speaking of best-business-practice...that fucking door is becoming more upsetting than anything else I have to put up with in a day's work.
We keep the main door to the office closed so random people just can't walk in and so the heat and air-conditioning doesn't filter out into the hallway. My boss's office is outside the main door, so if she needs to come back to the main office, she has to open the main door.
And never and I mean NEVER shuts it behind her. Within minutes, whatever air we have escapes and the temperature starts to become uncomfortable. More importantly, a co-worker's purse was stolen a couple months ago because the door was wide open and they just zipped right past me without me seeing them. With the door shut, people have to open it and hit the bells which ring loud enough for me to know to look up and see who's there. And after all that and the headache it caused, she STILL won't shut the fucking door behind her. In fact, she's so adamant about keeping it open that she will find reasons to come back there so she can open it again. I average 22 times a day getting up from my desk and closing the door.
And I have about had it with this petty, immature garbage. It's a fucking door...shut it! I don't know what her problem is and at this point I'm so pissed I don't care. I'm always the first one to suffer because the heat and AC drift right out of my office first, and it's already been proven to us with the purse-theft that having the door wide open is a safety issue. What the fuck doesn't she get?
So I'm going to have to figure out a way to deal with this issue. I already had the building landlord down once to put an automatic door closer in, but he couldn't make it work; I could always go to him and beg. The maintenance guy, Joe, he knows me well enough that I can tell him the truth: fix the door, or one of these days I'm going to get so pissed I'm gonna slam that door so fucking hard I'm going to break the glass all around it. I have a history of getting pissed off and breaking things, especially glass. I've broken at least 10 windows in my lifetime over getting pissed off about something. I'd like to think I could control myself at work, but I've come close and slammed that thing a bit too hard couple times already. In this case I have to adopt the same m.o. in dealing with myself that I use to deal with the boss. I can't change who I am or who she is, so I have to just eliminate the opportunity for us to fuck it up. The automatic door closer will force her to have the door shut so she will have no opportunity to leave it open. It will also keep me from having to get up and shut the door damn near 30 times in a day so I will have no opportunity to be getting pissed off and breaking everything and losing my job over it. It's a win-win. Joe will totally go for it!!!

Sunday Roast

Dear God,

Why Steve McNair and not Ray Lewis???

Just sayin....

Sunday Roast

The BBC - after the show's over, who cares?!?!?! Outside the UK, YouTube is the only resource we have to watch the Glastonbury Festival, only the biggest/best music festival in the world. The BBC has copyrighted all coverage; other media outlets in the UK are using just BBC footage and their own on-scene photographs to cover the festival.
What a joke. People all over the world take interest in Glastonbury; I have a hard time believing the BBC can't find a way to make that coverage available online, or look the other way when it gets posted on YouTube. Like their not making enough money off this gig already.



Michael Jackson fans - I remember dressing like him, learning to dance like him, listening to 'Thriller' over and over, having his posters all over my bedroom walls. Craig was right; a video premiere was like a World Cup final. Millions and millions of kids just like me, we were obsessed with him.
I was 8. I'm 34 now. Things are a little different. I'm not going to a candlelight vigil, I'm not dressing up like him and sobbing that it was too soon or watching endless hours of coverage. But he was 50, and not in good physical or mental health. He was not a personal friend, or someone whose life I would want mine to mirror. But for God's sake people, you're hanging out at a star that isn't even his.

I did watch some coverage; music and dancing have always been a big part of my life and the man inspired me. I respect and acknowledge that. But I think I'll leave the necessary grieving to his family...

For the record, I won't do that when Bono dies, either. I'll probably cry a lot and watch a lot of media stuffs about it, but I promise I won't try to dress like him or rush the hospital.







This, however, is kinda cool....
















USA Soccer - for shitting the bed against Brazil and losing the Confederate Cup. We gave up a 2-0 lead and lost 3-2.
Thank God for the Manchester United and the Green Bay Packers; I'd have no idea what it was like to win anything...