August 15, 2004

I just did the math. I have BLOGGED 173K words for this BLOG. That’s a lot of words. That’s a big book. I started BLOGGING at the beginning of 2002. It started with a diet diary. I have BLOGGED since then, pretty consistently, about the minutia of my life. You know. Tying it in with the whole theme of the Assholier than Thou Good Times Happy Friends Monday Morning Radio Show Starring Baby Fea (yea!). For the most part it has been satisfying. I usually like doing it. I like sharing. But I have been thinking all this year about sharing in a different way. Not so apparent. Not so naked. Just doing something different. Maybe with a little less of laundry list feel to it. So, this is the last entry of “Chris’ BLOG”. Tomorrow, I start law school (again). Just like when the show started five years ago. Also, I am starting another BLOG detailing my experience in law school.

You can link to it here: http://kafkawasalawyer.blogspot.com

It has been, to quote Baby Fea, fun.

I will talk to you tomorrow on the Assholier than Thou Good Times Happy Friends Monday Morning Radio Show Starring Baby Fea (yea!).



posted by Thea at 9:37 PM

August 8, 2004

BLOG. Weekend Edition.

Friday. The Kid rocked the Beachland. I thought that it went OK but Dirt, who saw us last week in Youngstown, OH, said that we were way worse than we were in Youngstown, OH. How can I argue with that? I don’t really pay attention to how we play. It felt OK to me. Motel Blonde was pretty good. That is two newly discovered local bands in one week who I will pay money to see again. The Cynics were great – fucking great. I wished that we could have gone on before them. I hope that we will play with them again. Thank you to the Other Chuck and a listener who only identified himself with initials for coming out and saying hello.

Saturday. Went to the Lakewood Arts Festival. Went to Target. Listened to many Bob Dylan records in a row while staring at the ceiling or out the window.

Sunday. Right now, I am waiting for Laurie to come home from an open house to tell me whether we are moving or not. I don’t really care one way or the other. And that is not a bad “I don’t care”. I just really don’t care. Live here. Live there. It’s still me. I am still living.

This and other mock Zen philosophies on tomorrow’a the Assholier than Thou Good Times Happy Friends Monday Morning Radio Show Starring Baby Fea (yea!).

posted by Thea at 7:43 PM

August 6, 2004

I went back to sleep after waking up at 5:30 a.m. again. It took a little bit. I wasn’t tired. But I went back to sleep. I just couldn’t take that much day. Do you know what I am saying? Now. However many hours I have, that’s enough. This many hours is plenty. Asleep again. I dreamt that I saw Jamie from Boulder at somebody’s back yard party. He had a pony tail. He was dressed like a white rapper. He was talking to another white rapper. I went up to him. To talk. He was high and/or drunk. Sweating. Ashen. Bloodshot eyes. I asked him: Dude, what happened to you? He replied: No, dude, what happened to you? This dream is me not writing the Boulder book.

Today is Baby Fea’s birthday. You would not know that listening to the Assholier than Thou Good Times Happy Friends Monday Morning Radio Show Starring Baby Fea (yea!) as she did not mention it at all (I don’t think) where she used to go on and on about her birthday all summer. Said in Baby Fea’s voice: “August 6th. That’s my birthday. I am going to wear a tiara. The Sinner and Carolyn are having a BBQ. I am going to eat wieners deluxe.” This went on from at least Memorial Day (I think earlier, really) until after the actual day. This year, there was nothing. No pre birthday hype. And Baby Fea has been increasingly more quiet about her birthday every year - if you remember pre-radio show or the Assholier than Thou Good Times Happy Friends Monday Morning Radio Show Starring Baby Fea (yea!) circa 1999-2000. All August 6th. All summer. Now, nothing? What’s up with that? Where is the enthusiasm? I know Baby Fea will say that she stopped making a big deal about her birthday because nobody else would join her in making a big deal about her birthday. But I thought that was the point. If not the point, it’s why it was funny. This is my birthday wish for Baby Fea: that the enthusiasm that she once had for her birthday, for August 6th, will return. It’s like not having the spirit of Christmas. You need that. Baby Fea needs to get excited about her birthday again. Happy Birthday, Baby Fea!

Tonight. At the Beachland Tavern.

Andrej Cuturic as sleepykid featuring unnamed band members
Pittsburgh, PA’s Legendary Garage Rock Kings: the Cynics
Motel Blonde (who at least one listener warned me that they might blow us off the stage)

posted by Thea at 7:33 AM

August 5, 2004

I have been waking up at 5:30 a.m. again. Sore jaw. Headache. Was does that mean?

Laurie and I went out with Dirt and Julie yesterday. Down to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Free show. Inside because of the weather. We walked in on This Moment in Black History who were excellent as always. Machine Go Boom featuring Mike “Hook Boy” Uva were next. In short – they rule. This is a new favorite band who I will go out and see every time that they play. If you follow the evolution of bands that I like and get into and talk about all of the time over the last couple of years, you will see that I am slowly drifting away from hard rock. Chuck would say that it is a sound of me selling out to the Man and turning my back on my hard rock roots. I will say that I am liking music that is more and more wussy. I don’t know what to say about this. If I hear Nunslaughter or Soulless, I think it is good but I just can’t drag myself out of the house to thrash out anymore. The one good thing about the shift to light rock is that there are girls (girls don’t like Boulder) at these shows – including my wife who is definitely not a hard rocker. So, I can look at stuff and hang out with Laurie and watch her bounce up and down at Machine Go Boom and that is good. It is a different kind of fun than watching Smoking Steve throw pig heads at the stage. Lastly, the Dirtbombs were great – fucking great. As an aside, there were still a bunch of “American Idol” people lingering around downtown Cleveland, OH and at the Rock Hall. These people are idiots. Pure and simple. As somebody who has lived a life where the ultimate goal was to get on television, I can say that I understand that part of it. But I also must add that it is less fun being on television if everybody in the whole world is on television. Now my goal is to be the one person who is not on television. An aside to the aside – I watched the crowd outside of Browns Stadium from my boss’s (out of town – golfing) office. I sang for our secretary, in front of the window, American Idol style, one finger in the ear, the other arm gesturing like Mariah Carry. Our secretary said she did not watch “American Idol” because it was too hip hop.

Laure and I went old school after dropping off Dirt and Julie and went down to our old neighborhood to eat at one of the greasy spoons down there. Totally old school. Many memories. And many recollections. While we talking about yesterday, the song “Sister Golden Hair” by America came on the radio. One of my favorites from driving around with my mother as a kid. We both agreed it is a great song that would be even greater if it were sung by Andrej. Here are the lyrics, dude. You’re on.

Sister Golden Hair by America

Well I tried to make it Sunday, but I got so damn depressed
That I set my sights on Monday and I got myself undressed
I ain't ready for the altar but I do agree there's times
When a woman sure can be a friend of mine

Well, I keep on thinkin' 'bout you, Sister Golden Hair surprise
And I just can't live without you; can't you see it in my eyes?
I been one poor correspondent, and I been too, too hard to find
But it doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind

Will you meet me in the middle, will you meet me in the air?
Will you love me just a little, just enough to show you care?
Well I tried to fake it, I don't mind sayin', I just can't make it

Well, I keep on thinkin' 'bout you, Sister Golden Hair surprise
And I just can't live without you; can't you see it in my eyes?
Now I been one poor correspondent, and I been too, too hard to find
But it doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind

Will you meet me in the middle, will you meet me in the air?
Will you love me just a little, just enough to show you care?
Well I tried to fake it, I don't mind sayin', I just can't make it

Doo wop doo wop ...

Speaking of Andrej, he got written up in the Free Times in anticipation of the show tomorrow at the Beachland. There are a couple of good quotes that you should check out. There is no mention of me.

I will close paraphrasing a quote from Tom Ericsson yesterday quoting his grandfather. “Make as many mistakes as you want. Just don’t make the same mistake twice.” Where did he get that one from?

posted by Thea at 6:06 AM

August 3, 2004

I spent a couple of hours today dealing with the administration of Cleveland State University. The complaint is that there is a lot of red tape at that school. I am not finding that to be a problem at all. Actually, I never have. Maybe it’s because I have spent all of my adult life dealing with the court system. I am used to bureaucracies. The guy behind the counter does not bother me. What I have a problem with is the physical environment of Cleveland State University. The hallways. The stairs. The concrete. The signs. It is miserable. It’s oppressive. It is a landscape that makes say: I will conquer this. The Main Classroom Building. I beat it once. It can be beaten.

For the record. I am not a fun guy. If you are looking to me for fun, you are looking in the wrong place. It is not like I am unhappy or anything. I am usually OK. I am just not fun. I am not the life of the party. I am not the good time guy. I am not fun to be around. I don’t hate you. I am not mad. Or upset. I am just not a fun guy.

posted by Thea at 9:53 PM

August 1, 2004

BLOG. Weekend Edition.

Friday. Work was different. The President (El Presidente) was going to be kissing babies and lying to the American people in the Mall area across the street from my building. There were Secret Service men and guys in army clothes in the building all day. They closed the office early. I left earlier because that’s the way I like to do it. At work, I let technology do the work for me while I booked trips out of town to see Guided by Voices on their supposed final tour. Your fun assignment is to try to guess when and where I will be seeing them. It’s like a game except it’s not. At night, the SK Power Trio kicked in Youngstown, OH – a city with no love for the sleepykid. I will say that we rocked. The crowd was just not feeling it. The Smash did not miss a beat for not playing together in six years. They played many songs that I like and sounded exactly the same as they always did after Cedars Lounge turned on the lights after last call. The drive home alone at three in the morning was a lonely drive. When it was storming like crazy, I wished that Laurie would have not left early with Caryn. Listened to 669. Reminisced.

Saturday. On no sleep. Went to Janice and Grinding Dill’s bridal shower for couples. I had a good time. I will leave the long list of shout outs following this event to Baby Fea – as that is her passion and specialty. At home. Watched “The Natural” for the first time ever. I thought it would be better for some reason.

Sunday. Worked. The woman who sits in the office next to mine was not there on Sunday, so maybe that is my day. Bummer because there is no air conditioning on Sunday. Helped Laurie’s sister’s family move. Came home and there was mail in the box. Like the day that I got my law school acceptance letter, it was a package from Cleveland State in the mailbox on a Sunday. This time, it was my first homework assignments. Puke. I think that I would rather not get mail on Sunday. Right now, I am tired and going to bed. Enough with this weekend.

I will talk to you tomorrow on the Assholier than Thou Good Times Happy Friends Monday Morning Radio Show Starring Baby Fea (yea!).

posted by Thea at 9:47 PM

July 29, 2004

Getting worse.  Degeneration.  Winding down.  I see people.  People who are, for whatever reason, in bad shape.  It’s bad.  I think that the person is at the worst point in their life.  You know.  Rock bottom.  I try to imagine them in happier times.  When things were better.  Before all of the bad shit happened.  Before it got to this.  This being the worst.  Fast forward five years.  What if today was not so bad?  What if it gets worse?  As miserable as the current situation is, lets just say it might not be that bad depending on how far the person is going to sink.  You are almost dead.  But you will get closer.  Just think.  The horror of today might just be something you look back on with fondness.  Warm reminiscing.  If it does, indeed, get worse.

When I am feeling melancholy.  Like today.  I like to walk around the Super K or the Walmart and look at people.  Bittersweet Big Box.  I did that tonight with Laurie after we dropped off her sister’s kids.  I feel much better now.  I bought 18 new Fruit of the Loom t-shirts.  I will now throw out all my old ones.  Fresh start.  Very nice.  Very necessary.

Sleepy Kid is playing tomorrow with Boogie Man Smash at Cedars Lounge in Youngstown, OH.  If any of these words mean anything to you, then you know why I am excited.  If they mean nothing to you, then it really is not all that important.


posted by Thea at 10:34 PM