Thursday, March 31, 2005

Random Bits of Food Inbetween the Molars

Well, I got my car back from the body shop and I'm a happy camper. I was stuck with a Buick Century, which is the type of car that Ma and Pa Kettle take to the lutefisk dinner during lent. It sails more than drives. I hated that piece of shit. The amenities were only a radio and tape deck. I have exactly one cassette tape and like approximately one radio station. That radio station doesn't always have shows I want to listen to. Anyway, I was about home when "No Sleep Tonite" popped on my ipod and put me in a good mood for the rest of the night.

In other news, my mother found another Christmas present for me stuffed in some box in a back room. This made me happy, since it was Blackadder. If you haven't ever heard of it, shame on you.

That being said, I get to go to the Harmony for lunch for some hot chips and see some bluegrass music (how I can "see" music is beyond me) tonight.

My day is looking up.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Trains, Theft, and Professional Drinkers

Once again, I made the pilgrimage to Chicago, holy Mecca of, uh, something Madison isn’t. After a brief stop in the ‘burbs to visit my sister’s family, Kyle and I took the train into the city. The ride made me wish I could take a train to the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, and down to Chicago. Then I wished I could take decent mass transit in Madison when we rode the el (is that how you abbreviate it?) over to Dave’s Neighborhood*. Dave was just finishing some Miracle on Ice documentary for what I suppose was the twelfth time. Then he, Kyle and I walked to some Irish Bar (voted best soccer bar in the US two years in a row, I guess) and had dinner. Jess, another college classmate, showed up in good spirits so the conversation was rather boisterous. Dave set the tone by ordering a second Guiness, so I had to keep up, which was definitely the theme of the night.

When Dave’s friend showed up, we went to the Wolves game. I bought the first round of . Of course I had to go back twice since they only allowed two to be bought at once. Thankfully, I had plenty of ones and quarters from the first trip, so the old foggie didn’t bitch a second time. I guess when Dave went back for the second round, the lady asked him where he got the beer he was finishing (no break for the liver, mind you) and he said his friend. Then she asked if he carded him. Can’t say that I did.

So the Wolves lost and we headed back into the city for karaoke. Kyle made it back after mauling his opponents in pool. He said he didn’t, but that’s his usual modesty. It wasn’t a busy night, so I managed to belt out about five songs. You know, my voice isn’t so bad when I’m drunk. I’m sure it’s a perception thing which explains why I sung the “Love Boat”, “Physical” (in a deutsches accent), "Ghost Busters" (courtesy of a blank screen), “Bohemian Rhapsody” (thanks to the help of other drunk patrons) and “King of the Road”. I did manage to pawn my last, and undrunken, pint off on Dave, proving that he is the Profession Drinker of Choice (tm) in the Chicagoland area. I did manage to feel ok the next morning. Kyle, well, he puked at a truck stop in South Beloit. Funny, “beloit” is the sound fluids make when hitting toilet water.

Anyway, the last bit “Theft” was that someone stole a bunch of cash and change at work. S/He even took thirty-five cents from one guy’s drawer. Our leading suspect seems to have fled, since the police couldn’t get a hold of him. The worst part is s/he stole our pop machine key, leaving all that syrupy goodness locked inside. Oh well.

Time to write a Kiosk history.


* I get this picture of a kid’s show where a surly thirty-something in a Wolves jersey walks into a bar and mixes, through twirls of bottles and shakers, a dry martini singing the Brady Bunch Theme.

Wednesday, March 9, 2005

Snooze

Last night after writing a new Kiosk history, eating some macroni and cheese, and watching two more episodes of Carnivale, I fell into the calmest sleep I've had in about two months. My dreams were of the colorful sort, meaning the actual visual parts, but I don't remember much about the content. I woke up this morning feeling rested, actually enjoyed my shower for the first time in a while, and walked out the door with a spring in my step. So that was good.

Tonight I have the Kiosk. Does anyone have suggestions on what CD's I should rip from the library? I was thinking of searching for some Pogues.

Ok, this post went nowhere.

Down the Road with Linux

About a week ago my System76 computer arrived at my doorstep. I'm getting a bit fed up with the graft and bloat of Big Tech, so I'm...