December 11, 2003

I am in between running around and I don’t know if I am going to have time to BLOG any time soon, so I wanted to get this in. It’s my birthday tomorrow. I am going to be 32 years old. I was reflecting today, on the eve of the event, on what a good year it has been. This has been the best year of my life since 1998 when I got married, graduated from college and the Revelers put out their first record on spinART. That was a pretty big year. This one was too. And I am happier now than I was then, so I guess it is all good (or better).

Fuck yeah to the Year of Big Change. Here are the highlights besides being blessed with a great family and great friends:

1. Laurie started college and went part time at her job
2. Sold the house
3. Played drums on stage for the first time in eleven years (opened for Brain Jonestown Massacre, the Lilys and the Dreadful Yawns)
4. Wrote two books
5. Was published in Alternative Press
6. Got hit by a car
7. Brother and family came home for Thanksgiving
8. Went to California
9. Went to Chicago, Il (twice)
10. Saw Radiohead, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Guided by Voices (twice) and the New Salem Witch Hunters
11. Saw the Browns lose to the Steelers (not the loss but the great seats compliments of the Sinner)

There you go. This year kicked the ass.

See you tomorrow.

Chris and Thea Present: The WCSB Holiday Jam – A Benefit for WCSB. Starring: The Dreadful Yawns/The Terminal Lovers/Viva! Caramel/Andrej Cuturic and Joel Kaufman (ex-revelers)/Mike Uva and Hook Boy. Beachland Tavern. December 12, 2003. 9:00 p.m. (sharp) Six Dollar Donation.


posted by Thea at 6:33 PM

December 10, 2003

We (I just said we) go through this thing at work every year where there are all of these trials scheduled for December or January and everybody gets all bent that they are going to have to bust an ass during the holidays and then the trials get kicked to some time in the distant future and there is nothing to do. I am going through that this December. I am bored. I am having a hard time motivating myself to do anything. I don’t have to work that many more days this year but the days that I do have to work are dragging. Life is a series of repeats.

I went to the scene of the accident this afternoon with my legal counsel in anticipation of a little bit of litigation so I can get paid for having my arm ripped out. What did we talk about? That information is protected by attorney-client privilege, sucker, so don’t ask.

Andrej, Matt and I practiced tonight. It was OK. I am not promising any rock or anything on Friday but I also don’t think it will be embarrassing. I can’t believe that Joel is coming in on Friday. Shit, dude, that is going to be awesome.

Matt and I talked about being the victims of player hatred. I wish people liked me more but there is really nothing that I can do about it now. We talked about haters and us hating. You’d be surprised at who I hate.

I found the shoes that I have been looking for. They are Andrej’s. He would not give me his so I am going to have to buy my own. Dude, I am buying those shoes. Those shoes are mine.

I remembered that Laurie went to get her hair done this evening while I was walking up the stairs to the apartment after practice. I have been through the new hair color plus the monthly curse equaling total hysterics all night before. I braced myself for impact as I walked through the door. Surprise. Surprise. The color rules and there were no tears shed. Yes.

Although I do not expect to be a kicking rocker every day of my life, I do want to kick ass and rock out occasionally.

Let me stress the fact that this show is happening on Friday. Yes, it is my thirty-second birthday. Yes, the show is staring at 9:00 p.m. Yes, Joel Kaufman will be there.

Chris and Thea Present: The WCSB Holiday Jam – A Benefit for WCSB. Starring: The Dreadful Yawns/The Terminal Lovers/Viva! Caramel/Andrej Cuturic and Joel Kaufman (ex-revelers)/Mike Uva and Hook Boy. Beachland Tavern. December 12, 2003. 9:00 p.m. Six Dollar Donation.

posted by Thea at 9:30 PM

December 9, 2003

I spent the evening shopping for clothes. Oh, the horror. I am now officially an old man who hates shopping for clothes. I think that I am going to have to go catalog from here on out. I can’t take it. The mall. The people. They can all bite me. I succeeded tonight in buying a couple of shirts that are too thin and a pair of pants that Laurie said I had absolutely no ass in. She stood silent in the dressing room. I asked what was the problem. She said the pants looked baggy. I asked where? The ass. I have no ass. The pants are gray and flat front and I would describe them as fashion forward while others would describe them as plain. Again, I hate it. As a man, I do not care what I look like but I realize that I dress like a dork. Where does the answer lie? To be too concerned with ones appearance and manner of dress makes one a sissy. Lastly, I have been the same size pants (38/30) and shirt (16 1/2 34/35) for over a decade. I am still squeaking into those sizes but if I go too hard at the Christmas goose, it might be visits to Omar the Tent Maker. Promise that you will slap the Christmas cookies out of my hand and I promise to start running again in the New Year. P.S. Worrying about ones weight too much makes one as sissy as well.

I am done deflecting judgment with apologetic preambles before judgment happens. Go ahead and judge. Obviously, I think what I did was the right thing to do.

How good it is has absolutely no relationship to how much effort was put into it. If much effort was put into it and it sucks, I feel bad. I do not begrudge effortless genius or coincidental perfection. Or beauty, which is just as arbitrary.

The problem is that I can’t remember what I imagined.

posted by Thea at 10:40 PM

December 7, 2003

Yeah. I am going to be 32 years old on Friday. I am listening to You Am I’s “#4 Record” right now and feeling pretty good about the whole thing. I don’t know why. I thought I would have a better idea about what I am doing or where I am heading or what it all means after the whole “Year of Big Change” but I don’t, really, and I don’t know if I want to, necessarily. I think I could figure it all out but is the answer “It is all bullshit” really going to make me feel any better? Is knowing for sure, like beyond any shadow of doubt, that it is all for nothing going to make me happier? Is there some sort of satisfaction that comes from figuring it all out? I don’t think so. Maybe I could secretly tell myself that there is no point but I don’t want to believe me when I say that and where do I get off telling myself that.

I just got back from the annual trip to the Parma, OH bowling alley in celebration of the holidays thanks to Laurie’s work. I could not bowl this year because I got hit by a car and it ruined my bowling shoulder.

I practiced with Matt and Andrej today. It went well. It is like family.

Yesterday, I hung out with Ricky during the day. What a dude. One of my all time favorite people and I did not even know it. And then Laurie and I went out to dinner and to see “Elf” – very funny (I laughed out loud a couple of time) even with all of the schmaltz.

I went to the Beachland Tavern on Friday to see the Cynics and the Rainy Day Saints. I had a great time Big ups to: Andrej, Howard, Ricky, Tim and Tommy. Men. Dogs. The Cynics fucking ruled. If you want a perfect example of how to grow old and rock, the Cynics, there you go. After seeing the New Salem Witch Hunters and the Cynics in one week, I am inspired to rock until gray and beyond.

I am realizing that life kicks the ass.

Chris and Thea Present: The WCSB Holiday Jam – A Benefit for WCSB. Starring: The Dreadful Yawns/The Terminal Lovers/Viva! Caramel/Andrej Cuturic and Joel Kaufman (ex-revelers)/Mike Uva and Hook Boy. Beachland Tavern. December 12, 2003. 9:00 p.m. Six Dollar Donation.

posted by Thea at 9:58 PM