I am just reinventing myself from the bottom up. Tonight I finally changed my AIM icon after two years.
Look out, world!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
It's Officially Autumn
...and it happened overnight. Yesterday it was pleasant and in the 70's...maybe a little too hot if you were in direct sunlight. But then today came along and it was brisk.
I'm not sure if I welcome this change in the weather or if I'm ready for it to be hot again.
I'm not sure if I welcome this change in the weather or if I'm ready for it to be hot again.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Hello Again
I'm a neglectful son of a bitch. Sorry (for those of you anticipating my update that never comes) for not updating this more often.
Things have been GREAT. Recording the second weekend in a row was kind of a bust...but it's all good. When was that, anyway?
9/20:
+ Kate's friend Maggie came to town. Her dad was AWESOME. He mentioned seeing Jellyfish (the band) in concert several times, which led to me mentioning how Ringo Starr covered two of their songs on one of his albums, then how Todd Rundgren was in the band...then he told me about the time he and a friend stumbled upon Rundgren's house! Our conversation carried on from there; he told me about how he covered a Kinks concert in 1969 when they were the opening act for The Who! Dude - THE KINKS and THE WHO at the same show on the same night! I really need to get that damn MacArthur Grant so I can build a time machine and see some concerts. Then...THEN...this guy tells me about how he owns a Nazz bootleg. That's right, The Nazz. Awesome. Just...wow...
+ I headed home, played with Lily, visited with my folks, etc.
9/21:
+ Commence recording? Nope. Damn microphones...still, Dad was off until 3, so we got to hang out. Think it's dorky that I hang out with my Dad? Then you don't know my dad well enough.
+ Packing my stuff up for my less than triumphant return to Bloomington, Mom pulls in the driveway and tells me she wants to take me out to dinner.
+ At Applebee's, I see none other than Mr. Blythe, my American Lit and AP English teacher (and one of a VERY short list of high school teachers I would ever care to see again, let alone remain in contact with - if I ever write a book he's getting an acknowledgment.)
+ I come back to Bloomington, chill with Kate and Maggie for a spell, and then get ready for the cocktail party I was invited to.
+ Since Kate couldn't come (that's what she said), my friend Daniel was my "date" for lack of a better term. It was awesome, we got to see the premiere episode of a new show for the campus TV station called "IUTube." It's not just good for that awful student television network, it would be good on a REAL network. Best of luck to those guys, they've got something good on their hands.
+ Daniel took me back to Willkie at 1 AM because he was tired. So...for the first time ever, I was able to attend both events I had been invited to via Facebook when David and I walked across town to a house party where some bands were playing. A guy from my film class, Dan Ostrozovich (I have to specify since I've got a phalanx of Dans, Erics, Maddies, Nicks, Scotts, Andrews, and Hollys in my life...and a few Alexs too many for my liking), invited me. I hadn't talked to him much outside class. But he turned out to be an interesting guy.
+ Walking back at 5 AM, some drunk wanderer told us he didn't know where he was but needed directions back home. I offered to give him a lift. David checked in at 5:30. I took this guy home - he swore up and down I was some sort of angel, which I had to quickly respond to with, "No, I'm just a guy...trust me." - and was in bed by 7 AM.
9/22:
+ Up at 1 to clean out my car since I volunteered to take Maggie to the airport. Kate came with, of course.
+ We left at 3:45, hit a post-game traffic jam in Bloomington, hit traffic in Indy, but she still made her 5:30 flight. It was great.
+ Driving back, Kate and I talked...I don't know, it's hard to explain, but being in a car with someone (this has been my experience anyway) you can have some pretty profound conversations and get to know somebody a lot better in a compact amount of time. Witness me with Rick, Daniel, and Ian on our gaycation to Alabama.
+ Kate and her roommate already had plans, so I called a friend and went out for a while. As I was driving home, Kate called to say she was on her way back, but they couldn't find a cab. So I opted to pick them up.
+ Afterwards, just the two of us hung out in my room, just sort of kicking back and listening to music...more bonding time. Again, hard to describe unless you've been there. It was nice.
9/23:
+ My audition for the local band Overhand went well, but I honestly didn't feel comfortable playing with them. It was more of a modern metal thing (think Tool), which isn't my thing at all. I mean, I don't listen to it...so, yeah. Still, great group of guys, they all seemed very cool and friendly.
The first test in the Zappa class came and went. Child's play.
Same with The Beatles class.
9/28:
+ Unfortunately, the plans I'd made with Graham were curtailed when he told me he was in the hospital after collapsing. Thank God it was just a heavy sinus infection and nothing worse.
9/29:
+ I took Graham and his friend Kat to Best Buy, CVS, and the mall. It was fun hanging out with Graham. Things have been so busy and stuff that it's been hard to stay in touch. What matters is that it happened, you know? We ate out at Chili's. Graham and I hung out at Collins. He got to meet Kate, too. All in all, it was a good night.
9/30:
+ Ah, yes...first real date. I took Kate to Louisville to see Eric Condon perform at a coffeehouse.
+ On the way, though, was Seymour. I had to pick up my checkbook, anyway. But, Kate got to meet my parents, Nick, Eric, Maddie, Lily, and...yeah...Jasmine. Got to show her the house, my drum kit, etc.
+ I got way more than I bargained for when we finally got down to Louisville. Eric was mid-song when we came in, but the next song he did, with a nod to me, was "Old Brown Shoe" by The Beatles. It was flattering because, as I whispered to Kate while he was playing it, Eric and I played that song before. He also did an encore featuring "Any Way The Wind Blows" by The Mothers of Invention. He learned it just for me. I was happy to hear it.
+ Never mind all that, Kate got to meet Ian, Anthony, Blake, and Sarah. (I'd seen Blake and Sarah at Eric's grad party 8/26, and Anthony and Kendall came up to see the Vonnegut exhibit. Dammit, I miss Ian. He was in top form. When I asked him if he would ever come to Bloomington he said, "Never. I'm not coming to Bloomington ever again, and here's why..." then he turns to Kate, "Now, I haven't known you long, so I hope you don't mind..." then continued, "but I SHIT in the Wal-Mart there. And you know what? I didn't flush. That's what I think of Bloomington." Fair enough.) I got to meet Daniel's dad. I already had a memory of him, as he was in one of Daniel's movies. The scene he was in ended with him screaming at Daniel, "Get outta here, ya little mother-fucker!", which as I learned from Daniel was an improv on his father's part. Remarkably, Mr. Robison seemed very tame and calm when I met him.
+ After the show Kate and I went over to Eric's house and hung out with him and Sarah. It's strange, I've only been there four times to his house...but it's one of those places that is just emblazoned into my memory, like my grandparents' (either set) house or the hotels we've stayed at on vacations. Weird.
+ At some point on the trip, I got so caught up in the music that was on (it was probably on The Beatles disc, we'd already listened to a sampler of The Who) that I couldn't NOT sing to it. The first song was "Whiskey Man" by The Who, but I started doing it almost song-by-song on The Beatles CD, which was a mix of 'Help!', 'Rubber Soul', and 'Revolver.' I explained to her that I don't sing for ANYONE. It wasn't even until June or July after knowing Eric since September of 2006 that I finally was able to sing while he played "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" by The Kinks. She thought it was good. I really honestly don't know. Eric thought it was good, too, so there must be something there. Unfortunately I can't drum and sing at the same time. Witness that dude from The Eagles: great voice, shitty drummer. Or Micky Dolenz from The Monkees: again - great voice...oh, wait, he didn't even really play the drums!
Anyway.
Things are good. I decided to skip out on Oktoberfest 2007:
+ The three people I'm dying to see are not going to be there. Joe Boxman is in Japan, Brett Eldridge is in London, and Tonya Shepherd has a fall break in a few weeks, so she'll be home for that.
+ Um, Oktoberfest kind of sucks.
I threw a surprise party for my suitemate, David. I think he liked it. Hung out with Kate and some friends in her room for much of the night.
We're getting close, you know.
And I'm comfortable with that.
All in all, from tonight alone I can say I made the right choice.
Alex
PS - ALMOST FORGOT! Through MySpace I've gotten in touch with former FZ band member Ed Mann, Dweezil's drummer Joe Travers (who also is the "Vaultmeister" for the Zappa Family Trust and knows Professor Hollinden), AND I just got a response email from Art Barrow (who played bass with FZ from 1978 to 1984).
Things have been GREAT. Recording the second weekend in a row was kind of a bust...but it's all good. When was that, anyway?
9/20:
+ Kate's friend Maggie came to town. Her dad was AWESOME. He mentioned seeing Jellyfish (the band) in concert several times, which led to me mentioning how Ringo Starr covered two of their songs on one of his albums, then how Todd Rundgren was in the band...then he told me about the time he and a friend stumbled upon Rundgren's house! Our conversation carried on from there; he told me about how he covered a Kinks concert in 1969 when they were the opening act for The Who! Dude - THE KINKS and THE WHO at the same show on the same night! I really need to get that damn MacArthur Grant so I can build a time machine and see some concerts. Then...THEN...this guy tells me about how he owns a Nazz bootleg. That's right, The Nazz. Awesome. Just...wow...
+ I headed home, played with Lily, visited with my folks, etc.
9/21:
+ Commence recording? Nope. Damn microphones...still, Dad was off until 3, so we got to hang out. Think it's dorky that I hang out with my Dad? Then you don't know my dad well enough.
+ Packing my stuff up for my less than triumphant return to Bloomington, Mom pulls in the driveway and tells me she wants to take me out to dinner.
+ At Applebee's, I see none other than Mr. Blythe, my American Lit and AP English teacher (and one of a VERY short list of high school teachers I would ever care to see again, let alone remain in contact with - if I ever write a book he's getting an acknowledgment.)
+ I come back to Bloomington, chill with Kate and Maggie for a spell, and then get ready for the cocktail party I was invited to.
+ Since Kate couldn't come (that's what she said), my friend Daniel was my "date" for lack of a better term. It was awesome, we got to see the premiere episode of a new show for the campus TV station called "IUTube." It's not just good for that awful student television network, it would be good on a REAL network. Best of luck to those guys, they've got something good on their hands.
+ Daniel took me back to Willkie at 1 AM because he was tired. So...for the first time ever, I was able to attend both events I had been invited to via Facebook when David and I walked across town to a house party where some bands were playing. A guy from my film class, Dan Ostrozovich (I have to specify since I've got a phalanx of Dans, Erics, Maddies, Nicks, Scotts, Andrews, and Hollys in my life...and a few Alexs too many for my liking), invited me. I hadn't talked to him much outside class. But he turned out to be an interesting guy.
+ Walking back at 5 AM, some drunk wanderer told us he didn't know where he was but needed directions back home. I offered to give him a lift. David checked in at 5:30. I took this guy home - he swore up and down I was some sort of angel, which I had to quickly respond to with, "No, I'm just a guy...trust me." - and was in bed by 7 AM.
9/22:
+ Up at 1 to clean out my car since I volunteered to take Maggie to the airport. Kate came with, of course.
+ We left at 3:45, hit a post-game traffic jam in Bloomington, hit traffic in Indy, but she still made her 5:30 flight. It was great.
+ Driving back, Kate and I talked...I don't know, it's hard to explain, but being in a car with someone (this has been my experience anyway) you can have some pretty profound conversations and get to know somebody a lot better in a compact amount of time. Witness me with Rick, Daniel, and Ian on our gaycation to Alabama.
+ Kate and her roommate already had plans, so I called a friend and went out for a while. As I was driving home, Kate called to say she was on her way back, but they couldn't find a cab. So I opted to pick them up.
+ Afterwards, just the two of us hung out in my room, just sort of kicking back and listening to music...more bonding time. Again, hard to describe unless you've been there. It was nice.
9/23:
+ My audition for the local band Overhand went well, but I honestly didn't feel comfortable playing with them. It was more of a modern metal thing (think Tool), which isn't my thing at all. I mean, I don't listen to it...so, yeah. Still, great group of guys, they all seemed very cool and friendly.
The first test in the Zappa class came and went. Child's play.
Same with The Beatles class.
9/28:
+ Unfortunately, the plans I'd made with Graham were curtailed when he told me he was in the hospital after collapsing. Thank God it was just a heavy sinus infection and nothing worse.
9/29:
+ I took Graham and his friend Kat to Best Buy, CVS, and the mall. It was fun hanging out with Graham. Things have been so busy and stuff that it's been hard to stay in touch. What matters is that it happened, you know? We ate out at Chili's. Graham and I hung out at Collins. He got to meet Kate, too. All in all, it was a good night.
9/30:
+ Ah, yes...first real date. I took Kate to Louisville to see Eric Condon perform at a coffeehouse.
+ On the way, though, was Seymour. I had to pick up my checkbook, anyway. But, Kate got to meet my parents, Nick, Eric, Maddie, Lily, and...yeah...Jasmine. Got to show her the house, my drum kit, etc.
+ I got way more than I bargained for when we finally got down to Louisville. Eric was mid-song when we came in, but the next song he did, with a nod to me, was "Old Brown Shoe" by The Beatles. It was flattering because, as I whispered to Kate while he was playing it, Eric and I played that song before. He also did an encore featuring "Any Way The Wind Blows" by The Mothers of Invention. He learned it just for me. I was happy to hear it.
+ Never mind all that, Kate got to meet Ian, Anthony, Blake, and Sarah. (I'd seen Blake and Sarah at Eric's grad party 8/26, and Anthony and Kendall came up to see the Vonnegut exhibit. Dammit, I miss Ian. He was in top form. When I asked him if he would ever come to Bloomington he said, "Never. I'm not coming to Bloomington ever again, and here's why..." then he turns to Kate, "Now, I haven't known you long, so I hope you don't mind..." then continued, "but I SHIT in the Wal-Mart there. And you know what? I didn't flush. That's what I think of Bloomington." Fair enough.) I got to meet Daniel's dad. I already had a memory of him, as he was in one of Daniel's movies. The scene he was in ended with him screaming at Daniel, "Get outta here, ya little mother-fucker!", which as I learned from Daniel was an improv on his father's part. Remarkably, Mr. Robison seemed very tame and calm when I met him.
+ After the show Kate and I went over to Eric's house and hung out with him and Sarah. It's strange, I've only been there four times to his house...but it's one of those places that is just emblazoned into my memory, like my grandparents' (either set) house or the hotels we've stayed at on vacations. Weird.
+ At some point on the trip, I got so caught up in the music that was on (it was probably on The Beatles disc, we'd already listened to a sampler of The Who) that I couldn't NOT sing to it. The first song was "Whiskey Man" by The Who, but I started doing it almost song-by-song on The Beatles CD, which was a mix of 'Help!', 'Rubber Soul', and 'Revolver.' I explained to her that I don't sing for ANYONE. It wasn't even until June or July after knowing Eric since September of 2006 that I finally was able to sing while he played "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" by The Kinks. She thought it was good. I really honestly don't know. Eric thought it was good, too, so there must be something there. Unfortunately I can't drum and sing at the same time. Witness that dude from The Eagles: great voice, shitty drummer. Or Micky Dolenz from The Monkees: again - great voice...oh, wait, he didn't even really play the drums!
Anyway.
Things are good. I decided to skip out on Oktoberfest 2007:
+ The three people I'm dying to see are not going to be there. Joe Boxman is in Japan, Brett Eldridge is in London, and Tonya Shepherd has a fall break in a few weeks, so she'll be home for that.
+ Um, Oktoberfest kind of sucks.
I threw a surprise party for my suitemate, David. I think he liked it. Hung out with Kate and some friends in her room for much of the night.
We're getting close, you know.
And I'm comfortable with that.
All in all, from tonight alone I can say I made the right choice.
Alex
PS - ALMOST FORGOT! Through MySpace I've gotten in touch with former FZ band member Ed Mann, Dweezil's drummer Joe Travers (who also is the "Vaultmeister" for the Zappa Family Trust and knows Professor Hollinden), AND I just got a response email from Art Barrow (who played bass with FZ from 1978 to 1984).
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