Smallhouse Log

Saturday

Well, I'm near Chicago now. I forgot to not pack the postcard I was going to send Leah, so I'll have to wait on that until I'm in Chicago proper. Until Tuesday, I'm here in the 'burbs with my aunt, uncle, and adorable cousens. Elli talks now! Not very coherently, but well enough.

As promised, some of the best question/answers:

(Leah) Would you support a law banning pants?

benevolent dictator of another nation

(Leah) If it passed, would you wear a skirt?

(Stan) In response to the skirt question, can we expect to see you sporting either skirts or kilts this coming year?

(Stan) What about a skirt? (a bit more feasible and also comes in a pleated plaid this season)

that

(Clara) Are you a pirate?

(Stan) How does one define the mood pirate exactly?

(Anna B.) Why?

(Anna B.) Why not?

(Patrick) Should I worry about being sexiled/makeoutciled this year?

That's your dose for now; there are, however, More good ones, and I'll get around to posting them later. I'm having troublr typing in the dark.

"Zombie justice, where are you?"

Wedthu

Haha! My budget went from 'Bad' to 'Good' in three days! Of course, part of this was from finding a paycheck I had forgotten about, as opposed to cashing. $Ka$Ching$!

That, plus the really good tips I've gotten the past few nights, makes it look like I will be able to get both a new computer and a cell phone, as well as, you know, eat and buy books! Rar!

"I am Cow, hear me moo, I weigh twice as much as you!"

I have little time left to pack, however. Disaster strikes!

Tuewed

So, no quote, but a conversation tidbit:

Dad: "Are you going to take care of me when I'm old?" Drew: "No, I'm going to sit here and eat my sandwiches in peace."

I also had to stay up to go to the dentist this morning. I abhor going to the dentist. No cavities, though, luckily. And it was total luck, I assure you.

I also stopped by the bank to check my balance before coming home, so as to be able to do my budget. Things looked very bad. They are, hwever, picking up -somewhat. That new computer may not, after all, be in the near future, though I should pull it off by Winter Quarter.

I suppose I'd actually have to bother putting decent protection on that one, too, since it, unlike this, might be worth hacking.

In case I haven't already mentioned it, I'm totally psyched to go back.

The Sunday before returning

Battered, bruised, and extremely tired, I need a way to stay awake long enough to sleep long enough to do my job tomorrow night. Thus, I write this entry. It's not like I don't have a fair bit to relate anyway.

This past week, those waitresses I described earlier came in, right as the 'radio' began playing the song "Girl Watcher". Irony is delicious, and, one would guess, a good source of iron, something a once-and-future vegan like myself needs to make sure he gets enough of.

It's no spot on sleep, though. Sleep is delicious, much like lentils. Mmm....but soon enough, soon enough.

I've never been the kind of person that was content with telling myself "soon enough". I'm all about the instant gratification, and I don't do means to an end. The end very rarely justifies the means. This results in my doing almost everything for its own sake, which makes my life very enjoyable, but, I fear, makes me rather shallow. I was thinking of making a shirt that says "No Diving: I am extremely shallow". Being shallow leads to being frank, which is the good side of blunt, and blunt, which is the bad side of frank. (Sometimes I'd rather just be earnest, because we all know The Importance of Being Ernest. I mean, if you're not earnest, then you're Jack. OK, I'll stop now.)

The toes on both feet are in a bad way. Both are purple. Interestingly enough, neither injury came from the pits, mosh and otherwise, I've been in and out of for the past few days. One is from when my shoe exploded on the way to church, the other I just jammed really hard by stubbing it. Ouch.

Let's do the LifeLight rundown by the bands I wanted to see, in order:

Passing Thru - played Thursday. Missed 'em, 'cause I thought things started Friday.

The Switch - Missed, becasue Drew told me nothing was on Friday before six. They were at four-thirty.

Red Cloud - Missed, same reason; he was at five-thirty.

Ace Troubleshooter - Played well, but either they didn't work the crowd properly, or the crowd just sucked. They did play "Tonight", but if they played "Amanda", I missed it.

Nodes of RanVier - Always a good show. The crowd was strong on this one, even if the circle pits were abit loose. I came to the conclusion that I really am out of shape, as I can no longer dance the night away. As Jon Parker was giving his testimony at the end, they turned his mike off, because they didn't like what he was saying,but he shouted it out anyway. He had started by saying that they didn't need to give testimony, which is why they cut his mike, but then went on to say that their message was in their music, in their lives, and there was nothing they could say that would mean more than the music they poured their hearts into, that this was their prayer,this was their Good Word, and anything else from them would be cheap. That's not quite how he put it, but I believe that was the gist. It was the most moving, heartfelt speech I heard all weekend.

The Way - This came as a surprise; I hadn't noticed them on the roster until someone pointed it out. I saw them last when they won the Battle of the Bands at GodStock two years ago, and had been unable to track them down since. They were a little louder, a little faster, a little more pop, and a lot less acoustic than before, but still very quality. I bought the album, of course; I had a demo from before, but it didn't have certain songs on it.

Thousand Foot Krutch - Similar to last time they played, but the pit (not a mosh pit, mind you) was waay tighter because of the mini-halfpipe in front of the stage. I had trouble keeping my pants up.

Red Cloud - Second surprise act. They threw an 'all-hip-hop after party' at us, and we gobbled it up. The freestyle was awe-inspiring, as always, and his DJ, DJ Wise, was somethin else. He was doing freestyle spins and scratches that blew my mind. Ended early, though, due to threatening thunderstorm.

Side Walk Slam - Better than last year. They actually asked for requests, but their set was short because rain delays had chewed up the schedule. Between the minipipe and and the mud from the storm, a proper mosh/circle pit was unable to form, to everyone's disappointment. Afterwards, when I went over to the merch table the guy recognised me, which threw me off after the way they had all acted like jerks the previous year. They seemed to have come back around, though, so I think I'll buy their new CD. I couldn't buy it there, because they were at the end of a tour and had sold out of a lot of stuff. When asked, he said that 'Eve' was permanently retired.

Absence of Malice - Originally billed for just after / during the SWS set, they got rained out and moved indoors for a later time. When they finally did play, they rocked it. That Andrew Ling is a pretty cool kid, and I'm not just saying that because he gave me free crazy bread that one time. They actually had a good-sized crowd, especially considering that their time had been moved twice and they ended up playing at the same time as Blindside and Newsboys. Bought the demo, got it signed.

Blindside - Caught the last two songs, plus the three-song encore. Fortunately, "King in the Closet" was one of the ones I made it for, and the last song of the encore, "About a Burning Fire", is one I'm going to have to get my hands on. Downside: the whole field was mud, and I got splattered by people jumping around. A small price to pay.

And then I came home and wrote this. Goodnight.

Frisat

I came home drenched in sweat with my shoe and pants in tatters. Let's do this by the numbers.

songs I recognised in the Nodes set: 4.
times I got hit in the head with a teenager: 2.
shoes lost: 4, possibly five, none mine.
dollars spent: 15, counting cover.
times After the Sun's vocalist's voice cracked: 10+.
people who shouldn't have know my name, but did: 3.
people I didn't expect to see there, but did: 3.
awkward conversations: 2.
hugs received/given: 3.
people I was in Cyrano deBergerac with: 3, counting Dylan. None were Lisa Champion.
people who knew me from Denny's: 3.

So Katie Clarkson grew her hair out, and now she's a hottie. I didn't recognise her until she reminded me that she knew me. My neck is tired, very tired. I did like Nodes better before they sold out. OK, so they haven't sold out, but they're hardly the same band they were when I fell in love with them. It was no coincidence that I rocked hardest and cheered loudest for the older songs. The Spill Canvas rocked hardcore, though it was harder to catch the (stunning) lyrics with a full band behind Nick. I blew out another pair of shoes, the third to be destroyed while dancing in thirteen months. They were only two and a half months old, too. I'll have to buy new ones tomorrow before work.

Oh, yeah, the line-up was:
Nodes of RanVier
The Spill Canvas
After the Sun
En Memoria

In bad news, the Fireside Bowl is still effectively dead. All future shows will be 21+, and will only occur a couple times a month. I mourn Chicago's loss. Also, Dylan's taking his computer with him to college in a few days, so it'll be back to the Library for me if I want to use the internet in the coming two weeks. Then, sweet, sweet high-speed internet a la uchicago.

This is your last chance!

Tuewed
"Seven percent? That's not even ten percent!" -Nathan, 08/20/2004

More than half my total tips tonight came from one table. It was slooooow. At least I got a letter from Leah. And at least I did get that one huge tip, though I still made under forty for the night, and Scott still hasn't fixed my pay rate.

So I realised today that I now own a CD with a Parental Advisory warning on it. Woo. I probably didn't have one before because i tend to buy straight from bands.

Speaking of scene-things, big news threw down in the form of Fireside Bowl ceasing to put on shows, reverting to a full-time bowling alley. Many were crushed, or outraged. It apparantly stemmed from an argument between the owner and the booking manager. The story didn't end there, however: Recently, someone unveiled a new Fireside Bowl website, which states that they will continue to have "live entertainment" (by which we assume/hope that they mean 'concerts') and that the booking is under new, independant management, no longer done by mpShows. Oh, yeah, and the website is aggressively yellow.

The fun continues.

Montue
"Stop that, deflowering my phone!" -Ashlea, 08/21/2004

So Jeremy bailed at the last minute. But the next minute after that -some sort of second first minute, if you will- I made plans with Nathan Aldrich to visit him in Ames during those days which I'd already taken off work. Boo-yah. It was good times, and I drove really fast. I drove really fast because the speed limit in Iowa is ridiculously low, and if I'm speeding, I might as well really go for it.

But anyways, I got there, and it was good times. As it turns out, Eric Wall was also planning a suddenly-planned visit near the end of my own, and Dan Blackburn was moving back into town. Eric also had his twenty-first birthday, so we had a not-really-a-birthday-party-party. Since Maxim is one of his roommates, it was like a New Year's party, except with liquerhol and without pool or that stupid dropping ball. I also got to see proof that GameCube does have some cool videogame and meet Nate's girlfriend/roommate Ashlea. Which of those two came first is a matter I never got a clear answer on, since they both said essentially opposite, but not necessarily mutually exclusive, things when questioned. In anycase, he seems to be handling it well. I don't know what I'd do.... I'm not even sure what it'll be like having Leah in Fishbein next year, and I'm not even 'formally' dating her. It's crazy times, I tell you.

So the most embarassing thing happened to me at work the other night. Or rather, it would have been if anyone had seen it happen. No one did, and since it's that embarassing, I'm not going into further deatails here.

It seems lately that I've been giving a lot of people advice about dating waitresses. ("I went home with a waitress.... the way I always do. How was I to know....") That advice is, don't do it. Maybe I'm being to harsh, but most waitresses either have children or are still in high school. Either way, not something I want my male friends tangled up in. Despite this fact, I keep being struck by a pair of waitresses from Fryn' Pan (imagine there's an 'i' after the y, and it makes more sense) who come into Denny's about once a week. One is absolutely gorgeous, a dark beuty, and the other one is also cute, with tatoos. Both have lip piercings. Lip piercings are Hott. They also happen to be quite nice, good tippers, and have cool voices. Josh, the dishawsher, seconds my opinion. But Chicago becons, and anyway, I like to try to take my own advice as much as possible. But the point is: Waitresses are attractive for a reason. They make more money that way. They also make more trouble. All college-age young men should be advised.

And finally, I have a little bit of fun in mind. I like making trouble, even when it's for my future self. Immediate gratification, and all that. Thusly, I'm using my otherwise neglected LJ to run an exercise. I do hope everyone will participate.

Ta-ta for now!