Cackling in the Hiding Shrubbery

Been gone for a while

2006-07-04T00:43:00.000-07:00

Yerp, life's been hectic. My sis moved to D.C., she's been there about 2 days now. We hadta get her all ready to go, but everything is good and she likes her place.
I've been working at a newspaper and I really like it. The people are nice and I feel valued and appreciated even though I'm still pretty green, hehe.

In depressing news, Chester, the hobo kitty who's been here since I moved in, is very sick and probably took himself off to die somewhere today after I went to work. He was in extremely bad shape, I don't think he'd eaten in several days and was spending a lot of his time hiding from us all, so I figure he came back to say good bye and get some comfort.
I was afraid Marek was prone to the feline leukemia, but his vet said that he should be ok. I feel like a bad mommy for letting him be close to Chester, but it's not like anyone knew.

Other than that, things are pretty decent. I'm tired cuz I've been up a long long time, but it's ok. Better than not doing much.

The Desk of the Laminator

2006-06-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's high time we put some pics of my desk area in here.

This is the overview, kinda blurry but the lighting in

here is a pain in my noodle.

Here's the wall next to my desk, with my

calendar and organizational stuff on it.
And yeah, my Steve Harris wristband,

a gift from my friend Jim in Indiana.

My bulletin board o stuff. I built it from

a canvas frame, some batting, material and ribbon.
I think it's quite classy.

And another pic of sort of the same thing

with some random stuff there too.

Painting with Cynicism

2006-06-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

Today's mostly been a day of observation, soreness and crankies.

Vet visits are painful and trivial at best, and with a 15 pound hairball with fangs and claws, it gets even worse. Needless to say, there was much sedation and crankiness to be had. That and the vet sorta looked like Julian from Bridget Jones's Diary... that really creeped me out. Ugh.

Aside from that I found one cd I actually bought, a used copy of Tyranny of Souls by Bruce Dickinson. I've heard a few songs, it's all right. The cover design wasn't as good as the inside of the cd, which is surprizingly similar to the Accident of Birth cover I designed in Publication last fall. I was amused, but I think mine's better, mostly because I got to use the crap out of Live Trace.

I did try to look for Adrian's solo stuff, pointless of course, and then I thought oh someone probably had an Angel Witch cd once somewhere in this area. Wow did I hit the no way in hell jackpot. Sheesh. There really is no appetizing music that anyone has in stock in this area. It's sad. It's mostly crap, crap and a lot of ambient stupid crap. I think one song was on in the store the entire time I was there, for an HOUR. I'm sure there has to be some sort of substance abuse involved, but ugh. Is the talent scape out in the world so bad that people turn to recording bits of ambient whatnot and throw it on a cd and call it art music? There's nothing artsy about it. It's mostly pretentious crapaloney.

Pop culture makes me nauseous. I sat through a very very long half hour of So You Think You Can Dance tonight and wow, I love watching people throw themselves around to crappy music and get judged by a panel of complete morons. It's like watching Simpsons without animation. That's another thing. I'm sure the Simpsons is, or was, groundbreaking, but it's not really that great. I've known people who would put that show above everything holy, but I beg to differ. It's not that exciting, most of the plots are about as fun as the last time Lindsay Lohan was on Saturday Night Live, which was absolutely god awful. I'd rather just watch Futurama and pretend Simpsons never existed. That would make the world a better place.

I guess it just goes to show that mediocrity is always the winner. I mean jeez, look at who's in office... a retarded monkey who smirks anytime anything remotely positive for his way of thinking goes right. He even thinks that people support him. Of course, he probably lives in virtual reality anyway. I bet he's really a cyborg who spilled too much booze on himself in cyborg preschool so now he's damaged. Too bad something like Dave couldn't happen... Of course, it wouldn't, this is America, not some idealized movie version of the real world. That doesn't exist. This is just 1984 in progress.

I'm waiting for someone to organize a mass protest against the NSA, to get people all over America to call people and say Bomb at a predetermined time, to see if it'd melt the circuits or not. That there is really taxpayers and their dollars at work. Yes indeedy.

Look in Any Window

2006-06-13T23:50:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to comment on today, so I'm going to post links to some videos I found while noodling around on YouTube, which is quite a wonderful site.

First off, there's oodles of Randy Rhoads related videos, OODLES! Here's some of the best:

Picking Up the Pieces music vid from the Quiet Riot years, awesome stuff.

Laughing Gas This is Randy with Quiet Riot at the Whiskey, with a really cool solo that became the trademark of his later shows with Ozzy.

Mr Crowley - After Hours Pretty self-explanatory, this is from the After Hours tv show they did.

Those are the 3 that really stand out for me the first two were quite awesome finds, I just wish someone would get their act together and release a real nice Randy tribute DVD for everyone, cuz I'm sure there's tons of better footage out there.

Next, random Iron Maiden related stuff. I mean, what would a blog of mine be without Iron Maiden? hehe

ASAP - Silver & Gold First up is Adrian Smith And Pals, as Nicko calls it, and it's a cool vid, if not a tad pixelated. Adrian is rocking the mullet. Indeeed.

Samson - Hard Times Here's Bruce with good ole Samson. Thank god he got rid of that moustache. Dear lord.

Janick in Rio His coconuts are totally untampered with! Say what you will about Janick, he's a great guy, and does some awesome songwriting. That and he's a goofbat.

Maiden at Donington 88 Here's some snips of Maiden playing, some interviewy stuff with Steve Harris and Tony Wilson, not sure what band he's from, but he seems cool.

Goofing off in Germany 86 This one's just priceless, what can I say?

Bruce introducing the first shower on an aeroplane! Some moron on YouTube flagged this so you have to log in and confirm you're 18, but it's perfectly ok to watch, it aired on the Discovery channel. Jeez. I think someone just likes being a pain. It has great game show music too.

Ok, I think that ends it for now, it's been fun and informational, and someone's computer will probably try to assault them after loading some of these, but it's all worth it.

Here's a pic of Mr. Baby a couple nights ago, hangin out with the metal fridge!

Friday night

2006-06-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

Well, watched The Producers and the season finale of Doctor Who. Both were pretty good. I'm just sorta unmotivated to be positive since I have to go back to work tomorrow.
My shoulder pain is about like it's been all week, unbearable and unrelenting. I can only stand leaning against my chair because I'm tired. I don't have my MRI for the muscle or whatever problem till Tuesday morning, and if I do end up getting a shot, it's going to be Thursday afternoon. I'm just sort of braindead from being in pain.

Other than that, life's life I guess. Marek and I were playing fetch the peppermint earlier, he's very happy with that game. I feel bad cuz I was gone tonight, but at least we got to hang out today, even though I mostly slept because I've been exhausted.

I better go to bed since I have to be at work at 7 am tomorrow. Ugh. It's like showing up for hard labor punishment.

Shoulder pain, family pain...

2006-06-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it's the official Satan day or whatever. Yee hawr. I find it kind of boring, but that's also because my day has been pretty lame.

Let's see, I woke up to a phone call that was unnecessary, then started feeling really icky cuz of my shoulder. I sat around wondering if i should do anything about it, and finally called after lunch for a doctor's appointment. I figured perhaps it'd be something they could take care of at the office so I let work know I might be a tad bit late.

Turns out that I'm obviously not there tonight. Apparently there's some kind of muscular problem with my left back/shoulder region. My doc said that the insanely nasty pain I'm having is right where all the muscles back there meet, and is a 'trigger point'. I'm going to have an MRI scheduled tomorrow morning, and then after that I have to possibly go get some kind of injection into the muscle to lessen the tension or stop the pain. I'm not looking forward to that.

And in family news, my mother is cranky because I'm hurting, more at me than at the pain, she thinks I'm faking to get out of work. My sister just likes to dump on me, and I think my poor dad is caught in the middle. I'm not sure though since apparently I'm not allowed to talk to him on the phone now.

I give up, I don't understand why people are crazy. I'd think it was just because of the day, but I think it's like that all the time anymore.

The Rigors of Depression

2006-06-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

I can't say I'm clinically depressed, but having a rough job and trying to figure out what to do next is pretty harsh. I know a lot of people are having the same problem, and it's questionable whether some parts are even worth it.

Now that I have a degree from a good school, I'm apparently unemployable. I've applied at several different stores in the area, and the only one who even considered me was my current workplace, which is in food service and has hellish hours. Places like that always need people. It's nice to know that there's a job available, but the repercussions physically and mentally from it are questionable for their worth.

Being around people who make food service their careers in the respect some of my coworkers do is hard for me to fathom, having been in the position of not having a college degree and whatnot. At the time, it was fine; I got hours and got paid enough to take care of some of my needs, notably my car payment, since I still lived at home and was only taking a few classes at the time.

When I became a full-time college student away from home, this changed and I realized there was no real way to pursue an education and have a job as demanding as a food service one. I traded in my theoretical name tag and hairnet for an on campus job that was less pay and less hours, but always aware that I was a student first and needed a job second. It wasn't cushy by any means, sometimes it felt downright lethargic, but it was something to provide a tiny bit of income to help me with food and things that my loan money would not necessarily cover.

Now that I'm on the outside of that closed community of sorts, I'm finding that as far as intelligent conversation at work, there is no time or room for any. For the most part the people who I work with almost live at work or have very little in common with me. There's an age gap on either side of me, and being there doesn't feel like a reward at all. I'm not complaining about having a job, of course, but the mental distress it creates is not worth the amount I am getting paid.

There are a lot more concerns, but I'm sure you get the general idea. It's quite hard to be motivated when the word of the day is mediocrity.

Of tote bags and digital eyeball wax

2006-06-03T21:52:00.000-07:00

Well, to start off, today was hellish. Everything that could go wrong probably went wrong. Tomatoes were molded and rotten, two boxes of them, cashiers were incompetent, and I witnessed a father being very mean to his very young daughter just because she tried to go behind the counter. I couldn't even use the restroom without being bothered, and my break didn't even feel like a real break. Such is life I suppose.

I found a crazy site thanks to a friend, and the most entertaining 'description' of Iron Maiden ever. http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Iron_Maiden
Go there for a rollicking good laugh. I especially love the description of Steve. I put it in my signature over at the Maiden board I'm a part of cuz yes, I am that much of a nerd.

I've had ideas for writing again. Perhaps this blog will help start that up again. I figure I can wax poetic here more and get some writerly feedback. Of course, at the moment, my brain is still being crushed by working in the fast food sector.

If you think about it, just remember what Ray Stantz said. "You've never been out of college. I've worked in the private sector. They expect results." Too bad the only results I'm expected to produce at the moment are correct food orders and non-burnt crunchwraps.

Speaking of crunchwraps, what is the fascination with them? I've never personally eaten one, it's just sort of odd to me that someone would want one tortilla type wrapped in another. It just brings to mind Taco Town, and I wonder where the blueberry pancake and the extra supreme pizza are. Oh well. I guess life can't always give you a commemorative tote bag to take your drive through offal home in, but the thought of it is nice.

The only other thought is that last night's Doctor Who episode was awesome! I want it to be next week so I can find out what happens. I'm planning on renting the series when it's released in July (if we get it here in buttard Missouri) and watching the episodes in order so I see everything as it happened this season. And mind you, I haven't ever really watched before, so I can't say it compares or not with past versions, but I know other people who absolutely love it. I gotta say though, I can't pass up an awesome sci fi show that has historical stuff in it too. That's the stuff my digital brain fodder is made of.

So much for an introduction

2006-06-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

I don't really have much to say right now. Mostly that my job is killing me, my mother is driving me crazy, and all I really want to do is run away from home and join a rock band/circus/travelling freak show or something like that. Ahhwell.

I can do the top ten lists though. Matt put them in his and started a chain reaction.

Top Ten Things I Like Lots:

1. Kitten hugs
2. Listening to heavy metal no one else in my area likes, because it's MINE.
3. Having my own place. While I'm not completely independent, it sure beats dealing with having one room for all my junk.
4. Dr. Pepper - yeah, so my teeth are rotting, big deal.
5. Italian food, it's good stuff and it's comforting, unlike working with fast food. Blech.
6. Basic cable - I actually watch tv when I hardly have any channels. God I'm boring.
7. Spending time on the internet - well, I have no social life, so this is what I do. I play on message boards and myspace, and talk to friends I've had who I have a lot more in common with than most of the people I work with or live around.
8. Chocolate - who doesn't like it?
9. Watching Lou Dobbs chew people out. He's great, entertaining and quite amusing, and it's a nice way to unwind after watching the world teeter on the brink of extinction a little more each day.
10. Warm Blankies. Indeed.

Ten Things I Vehemently Dislike
1. Being treated like a 12 year old with a mental deficiency.
2. Being trapped in Mid Missouri, one of the most progress deprived areas this side of Southwest Missouri.
3. Working in fast food. Obviously. I have a Bachelor's Degree in graphic design, so here I am at Taco Bell. I have nearly no dignity left.
4. Wearing glasses. Ugh.
5. Most incumbent republicans. Obviously, they're doing way too much to screw things up. I know there are a few good ones, but it would help if there were more of them and they would get the morons to stop ruining America.
6. Bigotry and racism. There's no place for it. Sorry. None.
7. Genocide. Watch the news, it's happening right now, all around the world. You might think you can escape, but there are probably victims of some atrocity living near you, whether they're from Africa, Asia, Europe or anywhere else where there has been significant bloodshed.
8. Dumb remakes of movies. Yeesh. Do I care that they remade Miami Vice? Sheesh. That wasn't even a movie either, it was a dumb TV series.
9. Slow internet. Ugh. I don't even have it now but it still bothers me that others do... gah.
10. Cruelty to animals. There's no room for that either. If you don't want a pet or don't want to care for it, don't get one. Don't kick a dog or a cat or stomp on a hamster. If you're that mentally unstable, go hang yourself instead and do the world a favor. And don't abuse kids either, they're innocent and supposed to live in a world where they can actually be KIDS, not little adults who have to witness parents being hurt, other children being abused or being abused themselves, that's not what life is about in any race or culture.