Hey.
It's me, I'm sorry it's so late.
But I couldn't sleep.
This weekend was a good weekend. I guess when I say weekend, I mean the last four days. I had Thursday and Friday off for the Holiday. Thursday was reserved for family of course, to celebrate our blessings together and the one year anniversary of my father's heart-surgery. We played poker (I won), and Mad Gab (I won both times, albeit with different partners).
Friday was another open mic night at Coffee Fusion. It was okay, kind of embarrassing (not for me, for others, being watched by me, but they were just young kids, so you kind of have to cut them a break). My songs were as follows:
Beggars -Thrice
Red Sky - Thrice
Empty - Ray LaMontagne
Whiskey Lullaby - Don't even know the artist. But it was a duet between myself and my friend Madison Trainer.
Flightless Bird, American Mouth - Iron and Wine
Pictures and videos will be put up soon, and when they are, I will link to them.
After the mic night, several of us went to a cabin on Gilford Lake. Games and laughing and music and drinking ensued, but I had to leave early as I had plans the following morning.
Said plans were a trip to see New Moon (Good, much better than Twilight). We then ate at the Cadillac Ranch where I ordered Ranch Mac and Cheese (so good I almost punched the waitress in the face when she tried to take it away before I was finished...okay, not really). Then it was back out to the cabin for me, to spend Saturday evening through Sunday morning.
Walks were taken, lakes were jumped in at below freezing tempatures (by yours truly and one other brave soul), runs were taken in haste back to the cabin to put on clothes and thaw myself in front of the fireplace. Philosophical conversations were had on the dock at 2 a.m., and then since all the beds were taken, I stretched out in front of the smoldering remains of the fire and fell asleep, which was a little glimpse of heaven as far as I'm concerned.
You know, I have almost come to be reluctant about the highs in life, because they are inevitably followed by lows. Like right now. I can't sleep. The weekend is over. I'm alone. And I have to get up in roughly five hours to go back to work. And you know what I'm going to do when I'm done with work? Go home. Alone. And do it all over again until Saturday.
The book continues to grow and take on a life of its own, and the journey, both of the characters and the process of writing it, is nearing its final leg. I have never felt more passionately about anything as I do about this story.
I suppose I'll leave you with this:
Pessimism is what Optimists call Realism.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The Snoopy sticker on my laptop is wearing off (How things are right now)
I'm not sure when my last post was, but suffice it to say, it was too long ago. Life ticks by the days and sometimes these things get left in the wayside, even though they are extremely important (I have let down my millions of blog-readers).
Well, folks, I'm back. Get ready.
I have nothing philosophical or deep to say in this post, other than to catch you up on what's been going on in my life.
Well, I met a girl...
HAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha....oh boy, that was fun.
No, for real, there is no girl.
Most of what's been going on in my life revolves around music, actually. I started a new job, which is why I haven't been blogging as much, but that job is barely worth mentioning, as it is probably the least important part of my life right now, other than the fact that it pays the bills. I go in, do my time, then forget about it before my body hits the seat in my car for the drive home. I am thankful for it, however. It is a good thing to have a job in these times.
Probably the coolest development in my life as of late is the beginning of a local open mic night which was started by some friends and myself at a downtown coffee shop. Until the point I walked into the place to perform, I hadn't even been aware of its existence, but it's actually a pretty nice place, and if you're ever in the East Liverpool, Ohio area on a Saturday night around 7, you should hunt down Coffee Fusion and come see me.
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The people who run the coffee shop liked it so much that they talked to us about doing it on a regular basis, which is very exciting. I really enjoy performing (except for the occasional nerves) and look forward to future evenings spent there, even if the only people who show up are my friends and I.
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I performed two songs: "Intensity in Ten Cities" from the album Bone Palace Ballet, by Chiodos, and "Beggars", the title track from the new Thrice record. If you're interested in seeing a video of my first performance, go here:
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Also on the subject of music, I attended the Polar Bear Club/The Dear Hunter/Thrice show this past Sunday at the Deisel Club Lounge in Pittsburgh, PA. Great show, horrible venue. But, The Dear Hunter surprised me in a really, really good way, and Thrice was as amazing as ever. My respect and admiration for those guys is boundless. I hope to post a review of the show and some pictures along with it sometime very soon.
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What else? The usual festive autumn stuff: carving pumpkins (pictures on their way), trip to Cedar Point for Halloweekends (a tradition for the Clark siblings and crew). I've also been writing a LOT. I'm working on a group of short stories that have been nagging me for quite some time. So I'm taking a break from the book (which is about 60-70% complete) to clear the backlog of stories in my head, and after I'm done with that, back to the novel.
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Oh, and I have begun reviewing records, the first of which is Creed's new record, Full Circle. You can find the review here:
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You can also find a lot of information about getting a band on its feet, so you should check it out, it's an all around cool site. Breakthroughband.com
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I'm just realizing how much catching up I have to do. Hope you stick with me while I get back into it. I hope to have a flurry of activity on this blog, so stay tuned.
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Currently Reading or Recently Read:
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller, Jr. (Interesting, but not great, and a bit strange)
The Affinity Bridge - George Mann (Cool story, poorly written)
The Dark Knight Returns - Frank Miller (Excellent)
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Currently listening:
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Night Castle
In Fear and Faith - Your World On Fire
Emery - ...In Shallow Seas We Sail
The Dear Hunter - Everything
The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
Oh, Sleeper - Son of the Morning
Ray LaMontagne - Gossip In The Grain
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