costume fun

had a great time saturday night at a costume/birthday party. it was my friend Sarah's birthday so a bunch of us went out to Jameson's, our local 'Irish' pub, all dressed in costume. Sarah was an iPod commercial... she wore all black and put black paint on her face (like the silhouettes in the commercials) and wore a pair of iPod ear buds that were attached to an LED glow-stick; pretty clever. i went as Leonard Shelby, the main character from the magnificent movie Memento. i even marked up my forearms with tattoos and one on my chest... it was way cool, even though no one who asked who i was had seen the movie. Adam, my roommate went as Rick Warren, author of everyone's favorite 'Purpose Driven' series of really crap books. he wore a really cheesy Hawaiian shirt and kakhis and put a pillow under his shirt to beef his gut up a bit. possibly my favorite costume was worn by my friend Andrea, who showed up to the pub as Carmen Sandiego, complete with red trench coat, black fedora, and huge sunglasses.... it was incredibly creative.
i love Halloween, its so much fun. hope all of you enjoy it and remember: always check your candy for needles or blades before you eat any of it (a warning i clearly remember from when i was a kid... how creepy that it happened enough to have to be warned over and over about it).

son of a ...

not that most of you know, or care, but Charlton Athletic, of the Premier League (English soccer league), is currently dead last in the standings. tonight they played Fulham, another London team, and lost... again. they have only won one of the eight games they have played so far this season. now, in the Premier League, the bottom three teams get relegated to the league below... so, if they don't get their friggin act together, they will be relegated out of the Premier League (its like a team in the MLB being kicked down to AAA if they lost their division). now don't get me wrong, i am incredibly fortunate to be able to watch these games on TV, but can't they win a few games?

first dusting...

its october 11th and we just received our first slight dusting of snow on the cars; thats quite early. this is the time of year that i totally love: the first major seasonal changes and snow. of course, ask me about mid-january and i will be hating the snow/cold.

why the scary picture of a dog being really pissed and bearing its teeth? i friggin got bit by a dog today at work. it was a normal day of delivering routes that either don't have carriers or their carriers are too lazy to do it themselves. i had completed three of the five routes i had for today and started number four. i got all the papers together and headed out on the route... oblivious of the horror that was about to befall me. i took the paper up to the first house, put it in the box by their side door, and turned to leave and continue the route. in a flash, there came a dog, seemingly out of nowhere, barking angrily. before i even knew what was going on, before i even saw the damn thing, it sunk its teeth into my outer right thigh, tearing a good-sized hole in my jeans..... and a pretty mean looking wound on my leg. i quickly got away from him and bolted across the street. luckily, i was literally across the street from the hospital, so i called my manager and let them know what happened.

to make a somewhat long story somewhat shorter, the hospital i went to wasn't covered by The Courier's insurance, so after they had asked me a ton of question, after i had taken my pants down and laid on the hospital bed, i had to pack things up and drove all the way across town to Allen.... how stupid. finally, i got the wound all cleaned and dressed and got some antibiotics, which they were quick to let me know may cause abdominal cramping and diarrhea. so, here i am, sitting comfortably with my leg up, having just taken the first pill of my five day supply, quietly wondering if terrible things are in store for me and my digestive system in the very near future. gross.......

and then there was 1....

so, i had a really fun/slightly sad weekend this past weekend. first off, i had no school and no work on friday, which was friggin sweet, and i jumped on down to Iowa City to attend a Calexico concert. the concert was really great... and pretty darn long. the opening band, Oakley Hall, played for around an hour, which seemed like a really long time for an opening band to play. they were ok, nothing special. then Calexico came on and it was awesome. i love watching a band that really know what they are doing and that push the bounds of their music and what may be expected of them. i had heard most of their newer stuff (though i wasn't as familiar with it as i would have liked), but nearly 80% of what they played was brand new... and musically different. i expected their smooth brand of neo-folk/Americana, but was pleasantly surprised by their new bull-fighter, Mexican-inspired music (sorry, i don't really know how to put it and i realize my description may be a bit lack). needless to say, it wasn't exactly what i was expecting, but it was so cool, not often to you get to hear that type of music. their horn section was awesome, which really helped with the new style, providing the required dynamism. i haven't been able to find any of their new stuff on the internet, but i will keep checking and let you all if i find it.

another reason why i was down in Iowa City was to help my brother pack-up his car for his grand move to South Carolina to move in with my parents for a while. you should have seen how full his car was... i'm surprised anyone could actually fit in it to drive it. its really effing weird that he's gone and i am the only one left here in Iowa. i always assumed i would be the one leaving my family and moving somewhere else... i guess not.

and then there was 1....

so, i had a really fun/slightly sad weekend this past weekend. first off, i had no school and no work on friday, which was friggin sweet, and i jumped on down to Iowa City to attend a Calexico concert. the concert was really great... and pretty darn long. the opening band, Oakley Hall, played for around an hour, which seemed like a really long time for an opening band to play. they were ok, nothing special. then Calexico came on and it was awesome. i love watching a band that really know what they are doing and that push the bounds of their music and what may be expected of them. i had heard most of their newer stuff (though i wasn't as familiar with it as i would have liked), but nearly 80% of what they played was brand new... and musically different. i expected their smooth brand of neo-folk/Americana, but was pleasantly surprised by their new bull-fighter, Mexican-inspired music (sorry, i don't really know how to put it and i realize my description may be a bit lack). needless to say, it wasn't exactly what i was expecting, but it was so cool, not often to you get to hear that type of music. their horn section was awesome, which really helped with the new style, providing the required dynamism. i haven't been able to find any of their new stuff on the internet, but i will keep checking and let you all if i find it.

another reason why i was down in Iowa City was to help my brother pack-up his car for his grand move to South Carolina to move in with my parents for a while. you should have seen how full his car was... i'm surprised anyone could actually fit in it to drive it. its really effing weird that he's gone and i am the only one left here in Iowa. i always assumed i would be the one leaving my family and moving somewhere else... i guess not.