December 26, 2003

The Cavaliers just lost again. Far from the heartbreak of yesterday, tonight was just another loss to a team they should have beat on their home floor. I think that both Cavaliers losses in the past two days are symbolic of what the Christmas holiday has been to me. I am going out to see the Dirtbombs now after going out to see Quazimodo last night. There is also something to be said in all of that too. Alright, I hope that everything is going great for you. Happy Holidays (or something). Talk to you soon.

posted by Thea at 9:42 PM

December 24, 2003

I was down in the chops when I woke up this morning. I did not want Laurie to go to work and I felt like doing something today instead of nothing. I drank coffee and complained to Laurie about her having to go to the store. It was not like she wanted to go. She left. I ate an orange. I walked to her store to pick up the car. I went to the office to get a gift for her father that was delivered to my work. I came home. I talked to Baby Fea on the phone. I ate lunch and read the paper. I took a short nap. I wrapped Christmas presents and listened to Christmas music on the old people’s radio station for a couple of hours. For some reason, I started to get in the mood. I called my brother. We were talking about what we are doing for Christmas. Neither one of us is doing that much of anything. We might have blew our holiday wad at Thanksgiving. My brother said that he was looking forward to watching basketball on television tomorrow most out of everything. Yeah, me too. He told me he was teasing his son, the 9 year old Lakers fan who, if you recall, I argued with about the merits of the Lakers during his birthday present thank you call a couple of months ago. My brother told his son that his three favorite teams were playing on Christmas: the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Sacramento Kings and whoever is up against the Los Angeles Lakers. So far, that is my holiday highlight. Well, I am going to go back to wrapping gifts and then clean up the house so Laurie and I can just sit on our asses tonight and watch parts of “A Christmas Story” many times without seeing the whole thing once.

I hope your Christmas Eve is whatever you want it to be.

posted by Thea at 3:49 PM

December 23, 2003

OK. So, here is the deal. I am home after having a pretty kick ass dinner at Dirt and Julie’s house with their friends Eric and family from Vermont. I am BLOGGING. I am going to watch “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. And then I am heading out to the Beachland for some rock. It seems like a plan.

The Christmas season is in full swing. I spent the day doing nothing except getting myself in the mood for the holiday. I went for a walk. My Christmas gift to myself came in the mail today. It is a 1969 Ludwig Supraphonic 400 snare drum. You touch it and you can feel John Bonham. Run your fingers across it and hear “Moby Dick”. I like to think that John Bonham may have played this one. I like to pretend it is from Santa. What an awesome drum. It is my favorite snare drum so far. Thank you, Santa. May I have another?

I am sort of bummed out that Laurie has to work tomorrow. That means I am going to be sitting here listening to Christmas carols and wrapping Christmas presents all by myself. That kind of sucks but what am I supposed to do? Laurie has been off for the last three days and we have raged together and kicked many asses. So, she has to work on Christmas Eve. It is a shame that she still has to work three days a week. Those three days always seem like the bad ones.

Hey, I am thinking taking a vow of silence for the New Year. That means no communicating. Although the thought is still very much in the planning stages, the feeling is strong and the desire is there. I am going to be thinking about this over the next week. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Lastly, go Cavaliers. Three in a row. They are playing like a basketball team. All I want for Christmas is a Cavaliers win over Orlando. They will make it happen.

posted by Thea at 9:42 PM

December 21, 2003

BLOG. Weekend Edition.

Friday. It was my last day at work before the Christmas vacation. I did not want to be there. Not at all. But I had to. I had a meeting in the afternoon and it was supposed to be the day that we found out how much our raises are going to be for next year and how much of a bonus we were going to get this year. So, it is like sitting in a waiting room all day waiting to get a shot or for the doctor to read the x-rays and tell you what’s wrong with you. It is not a fun wait. Well, the afternoon arrived and the meeting came and went and there was no uncomfortable encounter with my boss. After four o’clock, and the whole office is almost empty by now, I called my boss to ask what is up. No boss. I continued to wait. At just minutes before five o’clock, she called me and said that the wires were crossed and the whole bonus and raise thing was going to happen on Monday now but since I was not going to be in, she was going to do it for me then special. Super thank you. Or super no thank you. I got a bullshit cost of living raise and a half way decent bonus. I was bummed out for a while about the raise and then I got philosophical, acknowledging the fact that there really is no money in volunteered slavery in an office. I wish I could get more money to drink coffee and talk on the phone but there is no money there. To get more money, I would have to make more money for the office and that’s not happening. Eh, whatever. Who cares? I know the situation and I either have to deal with it or move on. That night, I went to my favorite mall in the whole wide world, you know the one, Great Northern Mall, to do some Christmas shopping. I was in Sears. I was slightly irritated by humanity but not cursing them or anything. I was looking at shirts. And then this old fat lady in one of those carts that old fat ladies drive around took out an entire rack of shirts. Her old fat lady buggy was beeping as it moved backwards into and over the rack. The old fat lady did not even blink. That is when I discovered the true meaning of Christmas. That night, Laurie and I stayed up late watching Replacements bootlegs.

Saturday. I did laundry first thing in the morning. While in the laundry room, I decided that I was going back on the Marine Corps workout on January 1st. That reminds me: I think that I threw out my copy of the Marine Corps workout and all of my winter workout clothes when we moved. I have to get on this before the New Year. I went back out to North Olmsted, OH after dropping Laurie off at work to buy a used copy of the complete Doors box set that came this year. It is the same box set from 1999 except for a different box. I came home. I listened to the Doors. There are Doors songs that I love and then there are Doors songs that are just so so. Has anybody else realized this in the past 30 some years? How many so so album tracks can you have and still be legendary? I did more Christmas shopping. I listened to Mitch Capka and his “Kick Out the Jams� radio program on WJCU while I drove around Lakewood, OH. I listened to his annual playing of the Chipmunks and Canned Heat doing the Christmas Boogie. It is a holiday classic. I went grocery shopping. I saw another old fat lady in an old fat lady buggy driving around beeping. She had a little kid with her who was acting as her helper monkey. She yelled at him. She yelled: stop pushing me. And she ran over display of something while her old fat lady buggy beeped. That is when I discovered the true meaning of Christmas. I stood behind a lady who bought over four hundred dollars worth of food. She warned me of that fact as I got in line. I told her I would care if I had anything better to do. I waited forever without getting frustrated because I really did not have anything better to do. I went home. I cleaned up the apartment. I went over to the Sinner’s house for a jam session. I wasn’t looking forward to the jam session and I had a good time jamming. Go figure. After I picked up Laurie from work, we went to Matt Charboneau’s warehouse space for a holiday party. It was kick ass. I talked to Ricky Brom at length and watched Laurie sip wine and make faces like she did not like the wine after every sip. It was cute. It was like feeding a baby pees. This warehouse space idea is a good one. Matt has a cool home and the Perfect Guy, Brian Straw and one of the Brians from Viva Caramel! got to play in his living room. That is awesome. I am pretty sure that the time of my life for living in warehouses is over but that did not make me envious of Matt any less. Big ups and props go out to him for doing it right. This is all being said after seeing the place before occupation in mid construction and wondering what the fuck Matt got himself into. I was wrong. He was right. Again, big ups.

Oh yeah, Viva Caramel!, the Perfect Guy and Brian Straw are going to be playing at the Beachland for free this Tuesday, December 23, 2003. Be there or be a sucker.

Sunday. Laurie and I are going to see the Browns today. It looks like it is going to be cold. That means I have to get my Carharrt off of Dirt before the game. After the Browns win, I have another office related party to go to. I am thinking about bringing over Aladdin’s carry out instead of holiday cookies or some other played out edible. You know, for a change of pace. I wonder if Laurie is going to be happy to hear this since we don’t have any time to do anything after the game before the drive to Shaker Heights except change clothes and get take out. I have learned, through ten holiday seasons with Laurie, that you cannot bake on the run. It is impossible.

I will tell you how it all went down and play some more Christmas music during tomorrow’s the Assholier than Thou Good Times Happy Friends Monday Morning Radio Show Starring Baby Fea (Yea).

posted by Thea at 8:18 AM