| 50" Of Chaos! Nothingness To Report... |
[Nov. 24th, 2007|04:57 am] |
Today I braved the 15 degree weather to take part in the massacre that is Black Friday. My sister and I camped out in front of a Circuit City to buy a 50" Samsung DLP HDTV which retails for like $1300 dollars and got it for $799.99. Its not a plasma, so the picture isnt all that crisp. But it is 50" which is pretty cool. The only crappy thing about it is that it uses tubes and is kind of like a projection screen. We will see how it works out when we get HD cable this week, if the picture still sucks balls, Im gonna pony up for the plasma and take this one back.
So that is all that is really new with me. I am starting to get over this whole 'band' thing, and am really not persuing that anymore. It is just more trouble than it is worth. |
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| Oh Yeah, Im A 'Home Owner' |
[Nov. 9th, 2007|03:01 am] |
'El Casa De Roxx' is now a reality. I woke up at a hearty 8:45am today to go close on the townhouse. We should be moving in around the middle of next week (hopefully, depending on how long the new bathroom tile takes). Its so sweet, we get new bathroom tiles for 'free,' from the co-op.
Anyways, that is that. A nice short blog. Got a dentist appointment on Wednesday (they are gonna make bank off my mouth). |
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| When Life Looks Down. Keep Looking Up!! |
[Oct. 10th, 2007|05:50 am] |
Sounds kind of biblical doesnt it? Ever since I have started to internally improve myself, my fortunes have changed 100 fold, and life is better than it has ever been. When Nicholes sister decided not to sell her home to us, we got down, but quickly turned it into a positive. It just wasnt for us, and it wasnt the right time. How RIGHT we were!! On Saturday Nichole and I went out to look at four townhouses in Warren (in the same complex as her sisters, where we are already preapproved and all that jazz).
We saw the first three, and none of them really interested us, for many reasons. Some of them needed some work (which is no problem really, but if I can avoid it, all the better). Some of the problems were very minor, such as missing molding or missing vents, to some larger things, like small bathrooms, small bedrooms, water damaged basements to no deck/patio. We decided that if we are going to plunk down a nice chunk of change, we arent going to settle for a middle of the road place.
So the VERY LAST place we looked at, was perfect. Even now, thinking back, I can not think of one negative about the place, it is an end unit, it has an awesome patio, it is right next to an open field, new hardware, new flooring, fresh paint, no water damage, new water heater, new everything, and on top of that, it was the CHEAPEST one out of the four. How fortunate is that?
So, Nichole and I are going out to the real estate agent today to put in a 'good faith offer' of $500 dollars, to show that we are serious, and to make sure no one else gets in on our perfect home. So that will start the train in motion to get it all closed up. If all goes well we will be moving in at the end of October. The only thing that could possibly go wrong, is that the RE agent goes ape shit and loses his mind. Im willing to bet that doesnt happen. Or he magically decides to bump the price up, which he very well might, at which time we will walk away.
So once everything gets settled, we are going to have a house warming party, hopefully I can get some old friends to come by (Brian?) and have some of my family come in from out of town (my parents) to come and see it. I am really excited. I have someone to thank for all of this good fortune, and I thank Him every night before I sleep. I have been very fortunate in my life. Its all good!!
Rock on, live for one, love for all.
~ RR |
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| Following The Trend |
[Sep. 19th, 2007|04:57 am] |
1. Director Of Photography - Photography is fun and all, but I really cant get into it like a lot of people. So yeah, not so much this one.
2. Director - I dont have the patience to deal with egos. I have already tried doing that once, and it just pisses me off. So yeah, another negative on this one.
3. Multimedia Developer - Wow, if there was anyone one job that would be THE geekiest job on the face of the earth, this would be it. These guys get as much pussy as Elton John.
4. Website Designer - Sadly, I know how to do this (better than a lot of people), only because it was a class in school. Would I do this for a living? Hell no.
5. Desktop Publisher - Reference to #3
6. Lobbyist - This is interesting, I would love to be able to argue with people, but for the same reasons as #2, I dont have the patience to deal with people who think they are right 100% of the time, and if you dont think their way, you are doomed to eternal damnation.
7. Cartoonist/Comic Illustrator - This is something I wanted to do when I was a lot younger, and for a time even had a few of my friends together and we made a comic book. It would be fun to do, I just dont have that much talent in drawing. I could color it all in, but just not draw it.
8. Animator - I would get bored with this really quickly, I would work for hours on end, and come up with about 5 seconds of film time. I can just tell that this would lead me towards a deep dark abyss of depression. I just get visions of guys all by themselves in a broom closet in the middle of the night wired on coffee trying to get one more second done.
9. Actor - Well I have been told that I am the best liar on the face of the earth. I can tell a lie while looking right into someones eyes and come across as 100% sincere. I think that makes me a good actor. Plus they get paid zillions of dollars to make out with hot chicks.
10. Criminologist - Blood makes me queezy, I dont think I would last too long in this one.
11. Professor - Wow, that came out of left field, I dont think anyone would want a guy who can barely get a C average to teach them anything. Although it would be cool to be able to get the 'fringe benefits,' every once in awhile. But I dont have the patience to learn anything, let alone have to teach it.
12. Anthropologist - Yawn.
13. Video Game Developer - Video gaming has gotten so bland and generic I wouldnt touch it with a ten foot pole. Now if you would have asked me this in like 1989, I would have been all over that idea. But peoples perception of good video games have changed big time, and I am not interested in making another shooter game.
14. Computer Animator - Reference to #8
15. Casting Director - What would be better than telling Tom Cruise that he isnt good enough for the part? Telling Jessica Alba that she has to do a little 'work on the side' to get the job. Hella, yeah.
16. Comedian - Comedy as a profession is for people who have no skills and are socially unaccepted and were basically the dipshits in school who got picked on and beat up. As unintelligent as I am, I have more skill than to have to resort to acting like a moron to make money. If I wanted to do that, I would run for President.
17. Political Aide - Reference #12
18. Communications Specialist - So what does that amount to? Telling people how to use their telephones and computers? No thanks, I have too much smarts to communicate with people that are so dumb.
19. Critic - Sounds easy enough, get paid to talk smack about everybody? That is my perfect job, too bad it pays about as much as the 'Waste Disposal Specialist' at the McDonalds down the street. Unless you are a fat overrated guy named Roger Ebert.
20. Activist - That isnt a job, that is something homeless people do to justify not having a job. So I dont think this can really be counted. Plus, since when did people actually care about things that are really important? No one cares about global warming, they care about whether Hilary Clintons astrological sign will match up with the four moons and Britney Spears. Now those are important issues.
21. Public Policy Analyst - Arent we all public policy analysts these days?
22. Musician - Reference #2
23. Writer - Already am, it doesnt make any money unless people actually WANT to read your stuff. I never read, so I cant understand why anyone else would want to. Im just hoping 50 years from now someone finds my books and decides to waste their money into making them into movies.
24. Print Journalist - Too many rules you have to follow, and if you know me, you will know Im not a huge fan of rules.
25. Market Research Analyst - Yeah, I would love a job where I can compare and contrast the buying habits of people who choose Cherios over Frosted Flakes!! Please, gag me with a spoon.
26. Web Developer - Reference #17, retroactive to #12
27. Composer - Again, too many rules. Although I already do this, my pieces cannot be performed, for the simple fact that they are very linear in nature, and very long in duration, and very complex in notation, making them virtually impossible to perform without the help of a computer. I consider myself a minimalist version of Frank Zappa, with a dash of Trent Reznor.
28. Database Developer - Another job for book nerds and mostly unattractive fat guys. Not for me, I like to get out in the world, instead of sit at home (or an office) fucking around with equations and database algorithms.
29. Medical Illustrator - Wouldnt that be kind of the same as a comic illustrator? Except with medical stuff? Thats a toss up, but the blood and guts and stuff would turn me off.
30. Translator - I had a hard time passing basic Spanish, so I dont think this would work too well. I might start an international incident.
31. Computer Programmer - No thanks, thats what fat/bald or generally socially inept guys are for.
32. Graphic Designer - Too easy, I would get bored WAY too quickly.
33. Business Systems Analyst - Didnt I already get asked this one?
34. Artist - YES!! YES!! YES!! The one medium where you dont have to put up with other peoples drama or bullshit. If a good painting was a woman, I would be a frequent masturbator. Art gets me off, a good painting with real meaning and emotion is the best art there is.
35. Computer Support Person - How do you go from an Artist to a Computer Support Person? Plus, dont you have to live in India and be named Habib Ebad to be in Computer Support?
36. Film Editor - That could be fun, but it is very limiting, another job i would get bored at.
37. Curator - A who-a what-a?
38. Personal Finance Manager - Its hard enough for me to manage my own finances, let alone someone elses.
39. ESL Teacher - I dont really like people who dont speak English, so I wouldnt be good at this at all. I mean I do have a huge vocabulary, but if you cant speak English, you shouldnt be here. Call me narrow minded, but come on!! An ESL Teacher should be another term for 'Immigration Officer.'
40. Foreign Language Instructor - Okay, here is my first lesson, if you cant speak English, go back to the country you came from. If you didnt understand what I just said, walk down that short pier, and walk about three miles out. Dont worry when you start to inhale water, that is the English seeping into you.
1. Go here: http://www.careercruising.com/default.asp
2. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
3. Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
3.5: Click the "Answer more questions" if your results are RIDIC (added by me because I didn't know you could do this and I didn't even want to post this after taking it and getting 10 completely random answers
4. Post the results.
5. Bold/underline preferences.
6. Cross off non-possibilities |
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| Just For Fun, A Rare LiveJournal Blog |
[Sep. 10th, 2007|04:40 am] |
It must have been over 5-6 months since I posted on this thing. But thought, what the heck, it seems to be making a bit of a comeback, and I usually just post on this to blog about more personal stuff, rather than the pain in the ass that is music. Anyways, I read Brians small book about him moving, and thought I would jump on the bandwagon as well.
I have been working tons of hours at GM, usually around 45-50 hours, so needless to say I am making BIG BUCKS, for a guy with just a high school diploma. So Nichole and I are finally slated to move into our own place at the beginning of October (hopefully, if all the paperwork goes through, and her sister moves her ass out).
Its a nice little townhouse in Warren, a townhouse you ask? Why a townhouse? Simply because I really don't have time to fix things, or do lawns or landscaping or any of that other stuff, mostly because my work hours prevent me from doing that kind of stuff without losing a LOT of sleep. Working 5pm-3am doesn't make for much time to do anything like that. My 'daytime' hours are typically from 3am-7am at which time I go to sleep, then wake up around 2-3pm and go to work.
Anywho, the townhouse has 2 floors and a semi-finished basement (I just have to put up some drywall and some doors to finish it off), and we should be getting it from $35-$40 thousand, which is a good deal since townhouses there go for around $55-$60, but Nicholes sister only wants what she owes on it, which is around $35,000. It is plenty of room for 2 people, as neither of us have a lot of need for tons of room.
It has 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, so it is more than enough for my meager needs. Just give me a bedroom a bathroom and a living room and I am good. I will be converting the basement into kind of like a 'hang out/jam' area. Once we get the big stuff taken care of and we are all moved in, I am going to hit up Craigslist and try to find some cheap furniture to put down there (but still looks half way decent) and put some 'guyish' stuff down there, and it will be a cool place to have friends and family come over to hang out.
The only crappy thing about moving in with Nichole is that I wont be able to smoke in the house, its really no big deal, but it still kinda sucks. I used to smoke in my room here, but Nichole made me stop because my room smelt like a dive bar ashtray. I guess its good, because I need to quit smoking, I keep hacking up orange flem all the time, that cant be good.
Anyways, the only work that really needs to be done to the townhouse is to patch up some holes in the wall, and repaint the living room and get new staircase carpeting (the floors are hardwood, except for the stairs), the carpeting on the stairs looks like astro turf, so that has to go. Its a pretty cool place, once its all finished Nichole and I are going to have a housewarming party. I dont know who we are going to invite, the only people I know that would actually come are Jason and, well, thats about it, my parents might come, but they live like 8 hours away, so I doubt they will come, unless they bunker down there for a couple days.
Anyways, hopefully this all gets sorted out and done quickly, it is very stressful, knowing that right now I am the big 'bread winner' until Nichole finds another job. Right now she is doing part time work at Coldwater Creek out in Grosse Pointe. But I think she will start getting full time because I think she is going to be helping them open a new store at 12 Oaks Mall in Novi, but that is only a temporary fix. Ill be damed if Nichole and I end up like Jason and Heather where I end up paying for everything. |
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| Used & Abused |
[May. 27th, 2007|10:30 pm] |
Last night we played at Planet Rock in Battle Creek, and on the surface it was really a good show. But on the other side, behind the scenes, at least to me it seemed like a huge stab in the back, and for most of the night I was really pissed off at Jason, and really by no fault of his own. Simple reason being is that for 4 years I have told him to move around more and get into it, and last night, just because MJ said that he needed to do it, all of a sudden he gets into it. So that kind of put into my head that Jason wasn't putting the effort into it because of Trygemany, he was doing it as kind of an audition for Sex & Patriotism.
I think by this point Jason has given up on the band and is ready to jump ship for something more established, which really is his perogative because for him music is about money and fame, and thats cool, whatever floats your boat, if you dont mind being a sellout, then all the more power to you, just don't use me to do it, which was what was done last night, I was used.
Jason has a huge tendancy to care about nobody but himself, that is why him and Heather seem to be a match made in heaven, unless you can provide something or do something for him, he doesn't care about you at all. During the times when I wasn't in the band, he wouldn't talk to me at all, maybe once or twice a month. But when I am in the band, he will talk to me every day. It seems to me that he has no concept of friendship, he treats everybody as a stepping stone towards his ultimate goal, which is to make money in music.
I didn't post this on my MySpace because it would be too easy to get to by people who I don't want to read this, and my LiveJournal to me is more like a personal rant space, as nobody outside of immediate friends really knows about this.
Its weird the ackwardness of Jason and I doing a band together, personality wise, its really easy to hate him because of how he treats people, but musically we work very well together. So its a balancing act, but at this point, it seems like Jason has given up on the band, so all of this is pretty much mute anyways.
All I can say is that if Jason decides to not do the Trygemany thing, I am seriously weighing things out as far as continuing Trygemany without him, which is my legal right, as I will not quit the band, and if Jason cant live up to his part of the deal and joins another band, then I have the legal right to carry on without him. I'm kind of leaning against it, but I have put to much work into this thing to let it go because Jason decides that he doesn't want to do it anymore. |
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| Really Disillusioned |
[May. 7th, 2007|12:31 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  disappointed | ] |
I was talking to Scott, 'our' drummer for awhile tonight, and he basically told me that he wasnt very interested in Trygemany for a couple of reasons. First off, the biggest one being as he sees Jason as very arrogant and close minded, secondly he said that when he saw us at the Hayloft, from the crowd perspective that people thought we sucked and the singing was lacking, and it just didnt sound full.
I have heard this a lot, so a part of me is starting to think that maybe they are right, or at least on to something. I have talked to dozens of people who say we need another guitar player, or another singer, and I think the only reason Jason doesnt want to do that is because that would be a stab in his back and an admittance to defeat. I dont think Jason can take that big of a hit on his ego, thats what I really genuinely think. He will add a keyboard player, or anything else, but not a guitar player or a singer.
So part of me is starting to think that Jason is purposely sabotaging the band to fuel his own ego, or to at least keep his ego from being shattered. I dont want to embarass myself if everyone thinks we suck. So there is some stuff that Jason and I really have to talk about, because obviously something has to change. |
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| Worrisome : Too Negative For MySpace |
[Apr. 8th, 2007|07:19 am] |
Nowadays I use this LiveJournal to post stuff that might be too negative to post on the MySpace where people actually read it, this is like my ultra-negative blogging spot. Where I talk all negative and down, so if you are a sole-LiveJournal reader, and read this stuff and are thinking 'man, this guy must have a very shitty life' or something like that, don't think that, you are just getting the bad stuff.
Anyways, with nine days to go until the tour, we still do not have a drummer to go on tour with, which is worrying me a lot. I have basically put a lot of things on hold, or have blown a lot of things down in order to get this tour as my #1 priority.
With only a week to go, I am finding increasingly difficult to fathom the possibility of finding a drummer, let alone find a drummer and get him/her rehearsed enough to go on tour for a couple weeks. I hate being negative because it just kills my attitude and I start getting pissy towards everyone.
Its been very hellish for me to not tell Jason 'hey dude, this isn't going to work' I have come close a couple of times, but I keep thinking 'maybe it will still work,' I don't know how, but it could happen. Right now, on a scale of 1-10 on the feasibility of this thing working out, we are surfing somewhere around a 2 or 3. I don't want to do this thing acoustic, nor do I want to have a MIDI drum thing going.
Like I said before, there are other things that I want to do, that I have either turned down, or am putting on the back burner for this thing to work out. I have wanted to get more into my paintings and actually start to write new material for my poetry book. I have also wanted to get back into doing the Trojan Backlash thing. But at this point I convinced myself that doing those things would only detract from what I need to be doing right now, which is Trygemany and this tour.
If this tour doesn't work out, my schedule automatically gets killed, and we wont have anything until at LEAST mid-May in terms of a consistent flow of shows in Michigan. We have Charlie in the band as a drummer, but that is only for local shows, or lower Michigan shows.
I have also turned down several requests to start up or join another group, but even if this Trygemany thing wasn't going, I was going to shoot them down, simply because I don't have the time, nor the patience to start or join another band. As far as bands go, I am perfectly content with Trygemany. But if this tour gets canned, there will be A LOT of burned bridges, which would make it very difficult, if not nearly impossible to book this thing again in the future.
The way I see it, if this tour doesn't work out, it could very well be the end of any out of state potential for Trygemany, at least if we were going to do it by ourselves, and that worries me, and I don't even want to think about that, but its a realistic thing that could happen, and it deserves to be recognized and considered.
How long do you wait until you just say 'this just isn't going to work,' and just move on? I don't want to be sitting here on my birthday (April 15th) wondering what I will be doing on April 17th, and whether or not there will be a band to perform with. It kind of feels like you know the band is going to break up on a certain date, and you are just trying to prepare for it. Although I know the band isn't going to break up, and there will be more shows in the future, that is just what it feels like.
Right now we have 1 potential drummer, and if it doesn't work out, then I will be 99% convinced that this tour is fucked. |
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| Too Pissed For MySpace |
[Feb. 15th, 2007|03:34 am] |
I didnt want to put this on my MySpace because people will be calling me all day asking what the hell is going on. They might do that with the LiveJournal, but its the only thing I could think of. I just didnt want it on my MySpace and certain people thinking Im spreading negative vibes or something.
Basically what it all comes down to is that I am very pissed off at Jasons obsession over the smallest things. Its not just nitpicking, its a fucking OCD obsession. He finds a single half a second note in a bootleg he doesnt like, and he is determined to go fix it. Leave it to fucking Jason to find the smallest thing and actually waste time overdubbing and chopping a bootleg. Dont you have a fucking tour to book? Seems like a huge waste of time. Now he is telling me to chop out a 5 second block of a video, for some dumb assed reason.
It is small shit like that that really ticks me off. I dont know how many times I have to tell him 'ITS A BOOTLEG, ITS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FUCKING PERFECT!!' Thats the difference between a bootleg and a studio album. Bootlegs in all of nature are flawed, but you dont see GNR going in and overdubbing and chopping things apart so they sound better, and they sold fucking 3 million copies of Live Era.
Its things like this that make me wonder if I can live with Jason for months on end. He is so obsessive and possessive of anything that has him on it. If his guitar sounds like shit, he gets all crazy and actually wastes time trying to fix a bootleg. Get a fucking clue dude, people know its a bootleg, and if people listen to a bootleg and hear that painfully obvious chopping, it would have been worse off than just leaving the mistake in there. Its fucking pathetic to overdub and chop a bootleg, that just screams 'I AM TOTALLY OBSESSED!'
If this tour works out, I might have to check myself into a mental institution afterwards, because I will be on the verge of killing someone. |
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| Laid Off In March... |
[Dec. 5th, 2006|05:28 am] |
Well, got some shitty news at work last night. It seems like they are going to be permanently getting rid of the temporary workers in March. They are trying to bring in more Delphi people, and want to move us out, and if there are any jobs open after the transfers, they will take applications for permanent hires.
So what that means is that I will get canned in March, and I have to fill out another application if I want to be considered for a permanent job, which I think is bullshit because I have been there on and off for almost 2 years and they are going to make me fill out another application with a bunch of dipshits who have never worked there before?
Its dumb, but on the bright side, if I dont get hired back, I can get a band together and go out on tour. So thats a plus. |
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