what a load of horse shit.

2:09pm:

last week we met up with a former college roommate, a good friend that i sorta lost contact with. he did come out to SF once, during his honeymoon. now he just lives a few minutes away so hopefully we'll start kicking it again. it'd be nice to have a local friend.

this weekend we didn't do much i don't think...ate some biscuitville of course, that's my big outing every weekend and the only thing we can really afford. watched "i'm not there", which i enjoyed but i have no idea what the richard gere storyline had to do with anything. anyone care to explain this for me?

also watched the first season of "harvey birdman", which i totally understood. and laffed.

we've taken to playing a little tennis again, and we're terrible at it, but it's a lot more fun than walking on the treadmill in the gym.

tonight i start my oracle classes...3 hours each tuesday and thursday. shoot me now cause the boredom will be a slow death.

5:39pm:

remember when i said it came a crazy rainstorm the other day? this is the best photographic evidence i could come up with. i was too slow to get a photo of the ground completely white with hail before the rain washed/melted it away. ah, life back in the south.

and here is the water flooding into the common area in front of our apartment...we were briefly worried about getting some water in the place but it never got to that.


also:
http://www.doginasweater.com/
updated the website with a bunch of music and review of the polvo show this past saturday. and some polvo music to download too.
and here is a recent interview with the band...
http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A258076

also also:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dviup2
this is the tour only 7inch from the night marchers, which is the new band of speedo from rocket from the crypt/hot snakes/etc. it fucking rules.

also also also:
i can't even get a job at the fuckin' trader joes. goddammit.

3:44pm:

typical weekend update:
we did stuff, or didn't do stuff, as the case may be.

in particular - i managed to wrangle a ticket to polvo saturday night. POLVO!!! this is crazy exciting to me. and the show was awesome, obviously. last time i saw them was during their final two shows (also at the cradle) before breaking up, which was probably 10 years ago or so. it was definitely an old rocker party...i usually feel like an old man at shows but i was probably median age at this one.

other than that, we also went to the big farmers market on saturday. which was a pretty good one. also, it rained about as hard as i've ever seen it rain...it was literally like buckets of water were falling out of the sky. i took a photo which may or may not illustrate it...i'll post it later.

not much else...no jobs for either of us yet. i applied at trader joes. chelsea has an interview for a sales job tomorrow. at least we got that stimulus check to get us through the month.

12:03pm: POLL: Which puppy would you adopt???
(I don't have the ability to do real polls, deal with it)
(also, i didn't come up with these names, this is what they are called on the adoption website)

#1 - Caspian


#2 - Serenity


#3 - Winker


in other news:
there is no other news. still need to find jobs, both of us. had more biscuitville this weekend, as well as some mexican food where a bean burrito burned the roof of my mouth. and i knew it was fucking hot, and i ate it anyways like an idiot.

also, hit up some yardsales. got a brand new printer for the computer for cheaps, not much else though.

british sea power and the rosebuds are tomorrow night - hopefully i can go.

the new notwist record is brilliant, no surprise there.

candy is a super depressing film. sharon, you'll probably love it.

1:23pm:

weekend:

we spent saturday on this mega thrift store/yard sale jaunt, over 5 hours long or some such shit. it started at biscuitville and ended with a trader joes visit. in between we hit 4 or 5 thrift stores, a bunch of yard sales, a vintage kitsch/antique store, and we still didn't find most of what we were seeking. it was a fun day though.

yesterday i went on a hunt to find basketball games, and found a park with some pick-up going on. it was fun enough. it also happened to be right next to the cary skatepark, and just as i suspected, it was a full pads goon-a-thon.

also: watched two great movies - "you're gonna miss me", the awesome (and sad) documentary on roky erickson, and "Army of shadows", the melville classic about the french resistance. also watched "the driver" which was decidedly less good but had some awesome chase scenes.

still no jobs or any real leads. going to a temp agency on wednesday so hopefully there will be a bit of income rolling in in the near future.

11:36pm:

this weekend was pretty fun...

my good pal brian, who i moved out to sf with (he moved back here after a year), drove up from his home in wilmington and then we trekked up to my home in the hills. our good friend jake aka "baby huey" was turning 30 and getting shit faced to celebrate it.

we got up late friday night after a thrift store stop and some cracker barrel dinner. next morning we went to asheville for lunch and more thrifting an such, bought some goodies, ate some mellow mushroom pizza, good times all around. being that it was record store day, i actually popped into the decent record store in town to browse the racks, only some smelly probably terrible punk bands were setting up to play a show and thus blocking all the racks. so, yeah.

later that day we went to baby huey's compund up in the woods...he had a keg of beer in a trash can and had already been drinking on it for hours. his wife lauren aka "big fat yeast roll" had made metric tons of junk food like pigs in a blanket and such, and their irritating dachshund milo aka "titty baby" was roaming around bothering everyone.

anyways, pretty much everyone got crazily drunk (including my mom and step dad), my man nate was constantly smoking weed and i'm pretty sure i got a contact high, i whipped everyone's ass in ping pong, and so forth. there will be photos eventually, in the event anyone cares.

sunday we ate lunch at mamaws and then hit the road...nothing really exciting to go on about there.

in other news, i need a job goddammit.

also:
conan had a hard drive crash, needed some copies of cds he lost, and i uploaded the following, in case anyone wants ot download them...

archers of loaf - vee vee
http://depositfiles.com/en/files/4893052
(deposit files has been acting kinda assy so it may take a try or two to download it)

june of 44 - tropics and meridians
http://www.sendspace.com/file/wxi6vp

low - things we lost in the fire
http://www.sendspace.com/file/0l5ml2

low - the great destroyer
http://www.zshare.net/download/10912513b1edb7e5/

11:25am:

updated le website...photo journal has pics of a bunch of you guys from either conan's b'day and/or our going away thing at Docs. and then there is music and such too. and new photos of the cat!
http://www.doginasweater.com/

still waiting to hear if i got the job...and waiting, and waiting - why don't these decisions happen instantaneously? assholes.

elvis costello is really weird looking. but goddamn did he put out some amazing songs in the late 70s and early 80s.

10:03pm: given the job chelsea just interviewed for (see her journal for details), i give you one of the greatest television triumphs of all time...

4:53pm:

i'm pretty sure i don't have anything worthwhile to update on, but here goes...

we finally got our bed, after a bit of runaround. sears fucked up our order so we got it from some mattress warehouse a day later. needless to say, it was awesome to finally sleep on a comfy mattress and not the air mattress anymore.

i had an interview with a recruiter thursday and they got me an interview for a job tomorrow morning. cross your fingers, one of us needs to start getting paid son!

this coming weekend it is back into the hills with the fam and for a friend's 30th b'day party. my good pal brian is coming up from wilmington and riding up with us, it will be awesome to see him again.

the apartment is nearly together, just a couple of odds-n-ends to tie up. chelsea had me out at lowes today buying parts to build some convoluted headboard she is planning. women folk, i tell ya, they're wacky.

um, what else...there is a biscuitville just down the road from us, and that place is awesome. i figured you folks needed to know that.

also, the A's are surprisingly kicking ass so far this year, and i've had to follow via online radio. yet another reason i need ot get a job, so i can buy the extra innings package and watch their games.

10:08pm:

i'm tired. cue up madeline kahn's song from "blazing saddles". moving is goddamn exhausting, but we are close to finished. unloaded the moving cubes, moved about 2/3rds of the shit into the apartment (ground floor thankfully) and the rest into the storage unit.

now it is just a matter of shuffling shit around and putting it where it needs to go. got a new king sized bed coming friday and cable/internet hook-ups then too...leaching off the neighbors right now.

the final weekend in marion was pretty fun - it involved a lot of darts and eating out and brew pubs and funny nicknames and symphonic bands and a terrible final four basketball game and an asheville tourists baseball game where i caught a t-shirt thrown into the crowd and...well, fun shit.

this place we live in...is odd. suburban sprawl butted up against some gorgeous farm land. edward scissorhands meets green acres maybe. also, there is a dairy queen and a dunkin donuts just down the road.

9:24pm:

http://www.doginasweater.com/
finally got all the photos from our trip up on the website...and some songs as usual. give'em a look if you're interested.

we got our apartment down in the triangle, and will be moving next week. it will be nice to get out of our "limbo" state we are in now, even if it has been a limbo state of home cooking.

played guitar hero for the first time last night. it came pretty easy to me, but it wasn't all that fun. i played "one" by metallica just so i could sing along to it and annoy chelsea and my friends.

unc is in the final four. as you might imagine, i'm pretty fuckin' stoked about it and in this are everyone is pretty excited. it's nice being back in an area where people care about college basketball.

the flipside being that i'm far away from opening day baseball (the japan trip of the A's doesn't really count). looks like i'll be watching the games online, and hopefully catching some live during the wedding trips i have to take to the yay area later in the year.

speaking of baseball, given that we need otget jobs i'm tempted to get a crap job with the durham bulls when we get down there...that would be a lot of fun, but also a lot of sweating given the summers here.

i thought i had something else to ramble on about but my mind is going blank. hrrrmph.

6:44pm:

it's weird, not being a religious person, it's easy to forget easter even exists. you certainly don't get any days off for it in cali (or at least i never did). but out here in NC, it's a big deal...people dressed all fancy times for easter service, kids in funny suits and dresses, dinner at grandmas, most stores and restaurants closed, etc.

we went down to RTP to find an apartment last week - nothing came of it. so round two gets to be wednesday...more apartments to look at and salesman apartment renter folk to deal with. hopefully we find a place this time cause i don't wanna do that drive and back in one day again for a while after that. it's only 3 or 3.5 hours each way, but it is still a pain in the ass.

this weekend was uneventful - went to a couple of thrift stores in asheville, hung out with some friends, saw a baby i'd never seen before that was exceptionally cute, had sunday dinner with the family where homemade chocolate pie and pound cake were served, and damned tasty.

the A's kick off the start of the baseball season tomorrow morning at 6 AM (3 AM for most of you lot). i'm pretty excited about and i plan on setting the clock to get up and watch the game tomorrow and also wednesday (same time).

np: black oak arkansas

11:52am:

ye gods, the job search begins. i don't like it, no sir.

life is good here so far, but we ain't got no responsibilities so no big surprise. dinner with friends, visiting mamaw, watching and playing basketball...just doing the typical things.

hoping to go down to the triangle to look for an apartment later in the week...it'll probably be easier to find work living down there anyways.

9:12pm:

DAY THIRTEEN
new orleans, la to gadsden, al - 405 miles

Noteworthy Towns Passed Through:
purvis, ms
petal, ms
enterprise, ms
basic city, ms
toomsuba, ms
cuba, al
ralph, al
rainbow city, al

NOTES:
- zzzzzzz....most boring drive ever today.
- the highlight of the entire trip might have been the strip club along I-59 just before entering mississippi called "scuttlebutt".
- also increased the cracker barrel visit tally to 4 (or is it 5? i forget).

tomorrow is the big finale...a trip to the hallowed ground of the Unclaimed Baggage Center, then a few hours later...home!

11:43pm:

DAY TWELVE
sulphur, la to new orleans, la - 267 miles

Noteworthy Towns Passed Through:
mallard junction, la (near goosport)
iowa, la
breaux bridge, la
hubertville, la

NOTES:
- apparently 311 is playing at the arena today, cause it is the eleventh of march. and there are TONS of people here to see them, walking around everywhere in their 311 shirts. it has me completely dumbfounded that they could have so many fans.
- all day driving through the back waters of louisiana and i didn't see one damn gator. much like driving through texas where i didn't see one damn armadillo. i'm beginning to believe these animals don't actually exist.
- went to cafe du monde, got beignets...touristy, yes, but goddamned tasty.

long drive tomorrow to gadsden, alabama, our final night of the trip.

9:00am:

DAY NINE
ft. stockton, tx to austin, tx - 337 miles

Noteworthy Towns Passed Through:
ozona, tx
hye, tx (the town was as big as their name; also, the fire department was burned down)
dripping springs, tx
...also, we passed a sign for a road that would have taken us to grapetown, but we didn't take it

NOTES:
- was good to see my pal ray who i grew up with...ate some tex mex, hung around in a fancy hotel bar, and did some night skating. chelsea got some good hanging out time in with his lady.


DAY TEN
austin, tx to austin, tx - 0 miles

Noteworthy Towns Passed Through:
...we did drive through an area called "taco town" while looking for skate spots, which might possibly be a derogatory term for the area, but that doesn't change the fact there actually were a lot of places to buy tacos there.

NOTES:
- more skating, more tex mex, more shit talk, more good times.
- took chelsea to get some texas bbq.
- watched some found footage and television without pity dvds cause we were too lazy to go out on the town.


DAY ELEVEN
austin, tx to sulphur, la - 327 miles

Noteworthy Towns Passed Through:
kyle, tx
stairtown, tx
luling, tx
flatonia, tx
turtle bayou, tx
west oakland, tx (appears to be a part of beaumont)
...also, there is a town next to sulphur that is called brimstone, which was probably intentional, but still funny.

NOTES:
- drove down to san marcos on our way out of town so chelsea could buy a cheap fancy purse at their fancy outlet stores.
- it rained all day. ALL DAY. luckily we had no touristing-type activities planned, but it sucked to drive in.
- ate at the cracker barrel last night by myself (chelsea got some drive-through chick-fil-a earlier) and the hostess was making eyes at me. ooh la la!

today: a slow drive through some small towns in louisiana on our way to new orleans for the night.

10:27pm:

DAY EIGHT
deming, nm to ft. stockton, tx - 411 miles

Noteworthy Towns Passed Through:
alamogordo, nm (fat fort!)
organ, nm
hope, nm (despite the name, depressing and rundown)
whites city, nm

NOTES:
- today we upped the cracker barrel visit count to 2 and the sonic visit count to 3.
- carlsbad caverns is the craziest and most unbelievable thing i think i've ever seen. it just doesn't feel real. i've been in a number of caverns, and nothing even comes remotely close.
- also went to white sands, which was damn cool as well. would have liked to have been there at sunset to take photos, but you can't do it all.
- tomorrow: 5 hour drive to ausitn then hanging with my good man ray until monday. really looking forward to it.

10:59pm:

DAY SEVEN
phoenix, az to deming, nm - 331 miles

noteworthy towns passed through:
picacho, az
lordsburg, nm
olga, az
whetstone, az
snaketown, az

NOTES:
- totally opposite game from yesterday, a pitchers duel. chelsea was bored but i loved it.
- after that, a long drive mostly at night to new mexico...white sands and carlsbad caverns tomorrow!

9:44pm:

DAY SIX
flagstaff, az to phoenix, az - 149 miles

noteworthy towns passed through:
didn't really pass through any interestingly named towns, but passed turn offs to the towns of bumble bee, flower pot, and wranglers roost, az.

NOTES:
- the a's totally thrashed the padres, and we had amazing seats - third row behind the a's dugout. tomorrow, we're the second row.
- phoenix is nothing but strip malls. it's pretty much like LA, minus the cool old signs but with a lot of cactus.

10:24pm:

DAY FIVE
blanding, ut to flagstaff, az - 333 miles

noteworthy towns passed through:
mexican hat, ut
cow springs, az (literally the only thing in this "town" was the hollowed out, roofless remnants of a long gone gas station)
rare metals, az
tuba city, az

NOTES:
- it is completely impossible to drive through the town of "mexican hat" and not get "mexican radio" stuck in your head.
- the grand canyon. it's really fucking big. almost too big to even comprehend.
- we tried to eat at cracker barrel again tonight, but couldn't find it. instead, we ate at a tasty local mexican restaurant. had some sopapilla for the first time in ages.

10:34pm:

tropic, ut to blanding, ut - 305 miles

noteworthy towns passed through:
none. no funny named towns.
...but we did drive over the dirty devil river!

NOTES:
- saw a couple of lesser known national parks today...capital reef and natural bridges, plus drove along part of grand staircase. some seriously awesome, breathtaking shit in this state.
- for the drive from hanksville to blanding (about 130 miles or so), we passed around 8 cars i think. and 4 of those were in the last 40 miles. there was easily a 50 mile or so span in there where chelsea was asleep, and i didn't pass a single building or car the entire time. just the occasional free-range cow and deer.
- we stopped at a gas station that was built into the side of a hill.

9:05pm:

DAY THREE
st. george, ut to tropic, ut - 184 miles

noteworthy towns passed through:
orderville, ut
virgin, ut (also flowing through town - the virgin river)
la verkin, ut
hurricane, ut

NOTES:
- the econo lodge in st. george was surprisingly decent for an econo lodge.
- also, within a 1-2 mile radius of our hotel there were at least a half dozen ice cream stands. my guess was mormons had replaced going to bars with loading up on milkshakes. sounds ok to me.
- speaking of hotels, the one we are staying at here in tropic is a serious ghost town. kinda creepy.
- went to zion NP and saw waterfall mist frozen on trees (the above photo was taken behind the falls, hence the slight haziness to it)
- bryce canyon was even colder, but what an amazing landscape. it got down to 19 degrees, plus the wind was blowing 30-40 miles per hour.

10:31pm:

we're on a trip. it is the good times. i shall keep a log here which everyone but me will find boring.

DAY ONE
oakland, ca to independence, ca - 456 miles

noteworthy towns passed through:
chowchilla, ca
earlimart, ca (only noteworthy because of the band)
dunmovin, ca
onyx, ca (made me think of "strangers with candy")

NOTES:
- stayed at this great little place called the mt. williamson motel. this elderly couple run it, only five rooms, and they make you a really tasty home-cooked breakfast in the morning. highly recommended.
- made the first sonic drive-in stop of the trip. nectar of the gods!


DAY TWO
independence, ca to st. george, ut - 388 miles

noteworthy towns passed through:
dolomite, ca (this is according to google maps...i didn't actually see anything signifying this as i really wanted to take a photo of the sign)
pahrump, nv (chelsea noted: "pahrump is a dump" - would have purchased a bumper sticker stating this if one existed)

NOTES:
- on the suggestion of the fine innkeepers of mt. williamson, we took a detour to the alabama hills just outside of lone pine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_Hills). about a zillion westerns were filmed here, as well as the legendary "tremors".
- death valley is a fucking crazy place. just plain other-worldly.
- had dinner tonight at cracker barrel!!! oh my god it was so good.

1:56pm:

firstly, just a reminder that we are meeting peoples at doc's clock tonight 6/6:30ish until 8/8:30ish. would love to see as many of you guys as possible, but i know people are busy so no big deal if you can't make it.

secondly, our shipping cubes came today. let the tetris stacking begin!

thirdly, what is the deal with cream top milk? seriously, can someone explain it to me? it tastes fine and all, but when one of those chunks comes out on my cereal it totally grosses me out to look at it.

10:59am:

so, for the final meet-up/gathering/wish us goodbye if you'd so wish -
Doc's Clock, next tuesday, 6:30 to 8:30 or thereabouts.

don't feel obligated to come, but we'd obviously love to see everyone we can. i'm sure we'll be back out here on occasion though, so if you can't make it no big whoop.

also, i updated my website with a few photos and a bunch of songs. good songs. like 22 of them or something.
http://www.doginasweater.com/